The Chocolate Cake

A bit late, I know, but you can't have a tea party without the cake,

here's my deliciously chocolately 

CHOCOLATE CAKE....

200g slabs of dark chocolate (about 70-75%)

180g butter

185ml cup of sugar

5 large eggs separated

5ml orange rind

5ml almond essence

45ml plain flour or ground almonds

coco powder or icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 175C

Grease a 24cm loose bottomed springform cake tin (I used baking parchment as well just in case it stuck!)

Melt chocolate butter and sugar in double boiler and stir until smooth and well mixed.

Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Add egg yolks to mixture.

Beat in orange peel, almond essence, flour/ground almonds.

Whip egg whites until stiff.

Add one third to the chocolate mixture and mix well,

then carefully fold in the rest of the egg whites (make sure there are no white bits!)

Pour in the mixture and bake for 40 minutes. 

The centre of the cake must still be very moist.

Allow the cake to cool before removing from the tin.

Sprinkle with a dusting of icing sugar or decorate with fresh 

berries on top.

 (the cake is not a high rise cake, but dense and moist)

My cake, unembellished, except for those silk roses - I told you they'd come in handy!