Almond flour. Toasted almonds. Chocolate caramel ganache. Heaven? Yup.
Ingredients:
For the cake:
Butter for greasing
265g Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips
6 medium eggs (5 separated)
210g caster sugar
150g almond flour
For the ganache:
60g Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips
60g Ghiradelli caramel chips
120ml heavy cream
1 cup raw, sliced or slivered almonds
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Butter a 20cm round loose-base deep cake tin and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. (You can also use a larger loose-based cake tin and then, once the cake is cool, cut it in half and stack on top of each other to form a half-moon as I did here.)
2. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of water. Put on low heat until chocolate is melted, stirring only once or twice.
3. Whisk 5 egg whites until stiff but not dry. In a separate bowl, whisk the 5 egg yolks, whole egg, and sugar until thick and pale.
4. Whisk almond flour, melted chocolate, and 1tbsp of egg whites mixture. Once combined, gently fold in the rest of egg white mixture until combined. Pour into prepared cake tin.
5. Depending on the size pan you use, bake for 40 minutes (larger) or 25 minutes (smaller). Or, keep an eyes on the crust on top of the cake. If you touch it and it crackles and the cake is pulling away from the edge of the tin, it's ready. Let it cool for ten minutes in the tin and then turn it out, upside down, onto a wire rack covered with a tea towel (so you don't get the grate marks in the soft cake). Peel off parchment paper and let cool completely. Then turn the cake the right way up and prepare the ganache. If you plan on cutting it in half, do that now.
6. While the cake is cooling, toast the almonds over medium heat in a skillet, stirring very often so they don't burn.
7. Melt the chocolate, caramel, and heavy cream same way as before until smooth and glossy. Take off the fire and let cool and thicken just a bit and then, with your cake on wire rack and on top of a baking sheet (to catch the ganache), pour the ganache over the cake. Use a spatula to cover the sides if necessary. Add the toasted almonds to the sides, top, or wherever you like. Let set until your finger comes away clean from the ganache.
Optional:
If you choose to cut the cake you can fill the middle with a cherry or raspberry compote. Or if you'd rather, add 4 tbsp jam to the ganache (just make sure to sieve it first) to add that extra fruit flavor.