Chocolate Cake with Dusting Sugar

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 100 g sugar
• 80 g flour
• 30 g cocoa powder (low-fat)
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 40 g ground almonds
• 50 ml chocolate liqueur
• 3 tbsp raspberry jam
• 250 g dark couverture chocolate (min. 50% cacao)
• 100 g chocolate shavings (for garnish)
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar (for dusting)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 200 °C with upper/lower heat. Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff, gradually adding the sugar and continuing until stiff peaks form. Whisk the yolks and fold in. Sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder; add to the foam, then fold in the almonds. Pour the batter into a 22 cm mini loaf pan lined with parchment paper, smooth the top, and bake on the middle rack for 15 minutes (do the toothpick test!). Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

2. 2.

   Cut the chocolate sponge horizontally; soak the lower layer with chocolate liqueur, spread raspberry jam, then place the upper layer on top. Melt the couverture over a double boiler. Place the cake on a rack, drizzle melted chocolate over it, spread it evenly with a palette, letting excess run off the edges. Sprinkle chocolate shavings around the rim. Top the cake with more shavings and dust with powdered sugar before serving.