Flourless Chocolate-Almond Cake

Submitted by Kittencalrecipezazz

"This is a cross between a brownie and a chocolate bar, a decadent rich chocolate cake with an amazing texture. This is the ultimate after dinner dessert sprinkled with powdered sugar, drizzled with a chocolate glaze or topped off with a dollup of whipped cream. It can also be made in a 9-inch cake pan instead of a springform pan. This can be made a day ahead but is better served the same day it is made, if you prepare a day ahead, cover and leave at room temperature. You will love this decadent chocolate cake!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 10-12

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups blanched slivered almonds
• 1⁄3 cup sugar
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate or 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1⁄3 cup sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 5 egg whites
• 1⁄3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon almond extract (can use 1/2 teaspoon more)
• 1⁄2 cup melted butter, cooled
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt

directions

1. Set oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter a 10-inch springform pan.
3. Combine almonds and 1/3 cup sugar in a processor; blend until almonds are very finely ground, transfer to a medium bowl (do not clean the processor).
4. Add in chocolate and 1/3 cup sugar to the processor; blend until chocolate is finely ground, but not clumping together ( this should take about 40 seconds) stir the chocolate mixture into the almond mixture.
5. Using an electric mixer beat egg yolks and 1/3 cup sugar in a large bowl until mixture forms heavy ribbons when beater are lifted (this should take about 5 minutes).
6. Beat in almond extract.
7. With a spatula, fold in the chocolate/almond mixture, then melted cooled butter.
8. In a clean bowl with dry beaters, beat 5 egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry.
9. Fold the whites into chocolate batter in three additions.
10. Transfer to baking pan.
11. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached.
12. Cool cake completely in pan.
13. Cut around pan sides with a sharp knife to loosen, then release the sides.

Reviews

[angela.a]

Easy, fun to make, and delicious to eat. I used dark chocolate but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. You could probably play around by adding any spice you like, ie. cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, or allspice. But I wanted to try the recipe as written and get the pure chocolate/almond flavour. Would make it again.

 

[Engrossed]

This is EXCELLENT! Only for almond lovers though...if you don't like almond extract flavor you won't like this. I used almond meal and subbed 3T of Splenda brown sugar blend for step 3 and then Splenda Granular for the other 2/3 cups of sugar...it worked great and no funny aftertaste. I tried grinding my bittersweet chocolate chips with my immersion blender in a bowl because I don't have a food processor and my blender only does well with liquids...I made quite a mess...chocolate splatters everywhere...but it still worked out in the end. I felt like I was playing with marzipan with the batter...I was tempted to sculpt it into something. I couldn't resist adding some frozen dark sweet cherries pushed into the top of the batter once I put it in the pan...Perfect! This is an impressive cake for a special occasion when you want something a little different. Made for the Zaar tag game.