Chocolate and Almond Cake

By maredan

Ingredients

• For the cake:
• * Unsalted butter, for greasing parchment paper
• 1/2 * 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose
• * flour plus more for dusting
• 3/4 * 3/4 cup raw almonds
• 2 * 2 large eggs
• 1/3 * 1/3 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• For the ganache:
• 1 * 1 (9.7-ounce) bar semisweet chocolate (62 percent), cut into small chunks
• 11/4 * 11/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 * 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1 * 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped, bean and seeds reserved
• For the sugar rose petals (optional):
• 1 * 1 large egg white
• 12 * 12 small organic rose petals
• 1/4 * 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• * Special equipment: 4 (3-inch) square cake rings molds; parchment paper

Details

Servings 12

Preparation

Step 1

Instructions


For the cake: Heat oven to 350º with rack in middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Grease parchment with butter and lightly dust with flour.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine almonds and 1 tablespoon flour; pulse until ground to a fine powder to make almond flour. Transfer almond flour to a bowl; add remaining 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and whisk to combine.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with whisk, combine eggs and sugar; beat on medium speed until light and thick, about
15 minutes. Remove bowl from mixer and very gently fold in flour mixture. Transfer batter to prepared baking sheet and gently spread to a 6 1/2- x 12 1/2-inch rectangle, about 1/3-inch-thick. Bake until cake is lightly golden and dry to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool slightly, then trim edges and cut into 8 (3-inch) squares.

For the ganache: Put chocolate in a large metal bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine cream, ginger and vanilla bean and seeds. Bring mixture just to a boil, then strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into bowl with chocolate. Using a wooden spoon, stir mixture until chocolate is melted and mixture is fully combined. Let ganache cool until just room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Put cake rings onto prepared pan. Put one cake square into each ring, then top each square with 1/4 cup ganache. Repeat to form a second layer on each cake. Chill in refrigerator until ganache is set, about 1 hour.

For the sugar rose petals: In a bowl, beat egg white until frothy. Using tweezers, pick up 1 rose petal. Lightly brush petal with egg white, then sprinkle with sugar. Transfer petal to wire rack to dry. Repeat with remaining petals. (Sugar Rose Petals can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.)

To remove cakes from rings, heat a butter knife under warm tap water, then dry thoroughly. Run warm knife between rings and sides of cakes, wiping knife with paper towels and rewarming after each side. Gently push cakes up from bottoms of rings and transfer to serving plates. Garnish with sugar rose petals, if you like.

Cakes are best eaten on the day they are made.