Chocolate Cake for Valentine's Day from ENW with Deb Slater on Vimeo.
Semisweet Chocolate 14 oz
Water 0.25 cup
Butter .5 #
Eggs, separated 6 ea
Sugar 1 1/3 cup
Cake flour 9 TBS
Almonds, blanched and finely ground 1 1/3 cup
Salt 1 pinch
Optional: Cayenne 0.25 tsp
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray and flour a 12 inch cake pan. In the top of a double boiler, melt the chocolate with the water. Stir in the butter bit by bit until mixutre is smooth. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until thick and light. Stir in the chocolate. Add the flour and almonds. Mix together gently. Beat the egg whites with salt until stiff but not dry. Fold by thirds into the chocolate mixture, taking care to deflate the mixture as little as possible. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for approximately 25 minutes. The cake should be moist in the center, but just beginning to shrink from the sides of the pan. Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool. If adding optional cayenne, blend into flour mixture.
