Chocolate Almond cake for Christmas

Another Baking Partners Challenge and we were given three cake recipes to celebrate the colourful season of Christmas. I loved all three and had a very hard time zeroing on to one of them. Being a complete Choc-o-holic, I had no choice but give in to the chocolate cake recipe!! Interestingly this recipe calls for Brazil nuts, and I (probably like most of you) had no idea about these nuts lest find them here. So it was decided to substitute with almonds though I wanted to try walnuts so badly as chocolate and walnuts have such a unique unseparable combination. Anyways almonds it was decided!

The cake rose like a dream filling my new make shift kitchen with the most inviting aroma. I was literally waiting and drooling for it to get baked soon. The rich chocolate smell was just way too mesmerising. Together with the chocolate honey frosting it was one of the most soft, moist and delicious chocolate cakes. Definitely a keeper recipe.

Thankfully because of this cake, Vishal finally brought out the christmas tree and all the decorations as I wanted some for my pics. Now we all await to put up the tree very soon. Christmas is certainly very near!!

Ingredients:I have halved the original recipe

For the cake:

• 1/2 cup almond meal or almonds soaked overnight and peeled
• 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 6 tbsp sugar(powdered)
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 eggs separated, room temperature
• a pinch of cream of tartar

For the chocolate honey frosting:

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp butter, softened
• 2 tbsp honey

Procedure:

Cake:

Preheat oven to 175 degree Celsius.

Take almonds and toast them for 5 -10 mins in the oven or till they dry up. Let them cool and grind them with 1 tbsp of sugar to a fine powder. (It is important to see that they dry completely before grinding otherwise you will get a paste of almonds)

Melt chocolate on a double boiler or microwave for 1 min(take care as the chocolate may burn, safest way is to microwave for 30 secs, stir and see how much is it left to be melted)

Grease and line your baking tin. I used a 6x2'' round tin.

In a bowl, sift flour and baking powder and mix the almond meal/powder.

Cream butter with 4 tbsp of sugar till fluffy and smooth. Add one egg yolk at a time and mix till all 3 egg yolks are blended well. Stir in the melted chocolate.

In another clean bowl, whip 3 egg whites with a pinch of cream of tartar till it forms soft peaks. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of sugar and beat till egg whites are stiff and shiny.

Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg white mixture in the chocolate flour mixture. Repeat till all of it is blended well.

Pout the batter in prepared baking tin and bake for 35-40 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let it cool and remove from the tin.

Chocolate honey frosting:

Take cream in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add chopped chocolate and stir well till smooth. Mix the butter and honey. 
Let it cool to room temperature and refrigerate for 30 mins.
Whip the chocolate cream on an ice bath.
Spread frosting evenly on the sides and top of the cake. 
Garnish the cake by sprinkling some almond meal/powder on top of the cake. I chose a star pattern to celebrate the spirit of Christmas!

Sending this recipe to Merry Christmas Celebrations, Cooks Joy Bake Fest#14, Favorite recipes Christmas, Cook.eat.delicious-deserts, Lets cook edible gifts for christmas,  Food-o-mania's Christmas cook off contest, 60 days to christmas, Celebrate Christmas 

Happy Celebrating Christmas
Amrita