Elizabeth David is known as Britain’s’ first lady of food and is, perhaps, the UK’s greatest cookery writer. Mrs. David brought about a revolution in British cooking in the late 50’s, introducing post-war Brits to the food of Greece, Italy and Provence and reminding them of their own culinary traditions. As Jane Grigson, another British food writer and one of her devotees wrote, “Basil was no more than the name of bachelor uncles, courgette was printed in italics as an alien word, and few of us knew how to eat spaghetti…Then came Elizabeth David, like sunshine.”
This simple chocolate cake, made without flour, is one of her more famous recipes. More than a few cooks, myself included, have fooled around with the ingredients; increasing the chocolate, substituting hazelnuts for almonds, adjusting the cooking time and temperature, etc. I have finally settled on what I think is the best – and, what I believe to be the original recipe.
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Elizabeth David’s Chocolate and Almond Cake
Ingredients
- 4 ounces (115 g) bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter
- 3 ounces (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons or 85 g) sugar
- 3 ounces (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons or 85 g) powdered almond, (ground almonds or almond meal)
- 1 tablespoon brewed espresso
- 1 tablespoon of rum
- 3 eggs, separated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 290 °F/145 °C. Line the bottom of a spring form cake pan or a tart pan with a removable base, with parchment paper and butter the sides.
- Put the chocolate and the butter in a bowl and melt over barely simmering water. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar, almond powder, rum and coffee until smooth. When the mixture has cooled, mix in the egg yolks, one by one.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks then fold them into the chocolate batter. Pour into the prepared mold and place in the oven for 45 minutes. Allow to cool in the cake pan before unmolding. Sprinkled lightly with powdered sugar before serving.
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https://www.charlottepuckette.com/recipes/desserts/elizabeth-davids-flourless-chocolate-and-almond-cake/
