Ingredients for a 24 cm cake tin:200 g dark chocolate200 g blanched almonds200 g sugar200 g butter5 eggs icing sugar
Put the almonds on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, spreading them out so they don’t overlap. Toast them in a preheated oven, at 200 °C, for 10 minutes. Let them cool down and then chop them in a food processor. Cut the chocolate and butter into pieces and melt them in a bain-marie, stirring with care; when you have a smooth, homogenous cream, turn off the heat and leave to cool down. Add the chopped almonds, setting a couple of spoonfuls aside to garnish the cake at the end. Using a hand-held mixer, beat the egg yolks and the sugar in a bowl (setting aside the whites) until frothy; add the chocolate and almonds and mix well. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold them in, stirring delicately from bottom to top. When the mixture is smooth and homogeneous, pour it into the cake tin, greased with butter and dusted with flour. Bake in a preheated oven, at 180 °C, for 35 minutes. Let the cake cool down completely, tip it out of the tin and sprinkle with the icing sugar and the chopped almonds you set aside. A tip: serve it with whipped cream, it’s “la morte sua” (= to die for)!