Chocolate Almond Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Icing

This cake was DIVINE ! Spencer and I watched Julie and Julia today. I had seen it a while ago with Diane. There was a scene in the movie where Julie and her husband Eric are devouring this cake and Spencer decided he wanted to devour it too! So I went out to the grocery store and bought the ingredients and set out to making yet another one of Julia's scrumptios recipes!

This particular cake was also featured in "O Magazine"!

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You will need:

-an 8' round cake pan, with 1 1/2 inches in depth

-4 ounces or squares of semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted with 2 tbsp. of coffee or rum

1)Butter and flour the cake pan. *Rub the pan and its edges with butter. Sprinkle with flour and shake it around so it covers all the sides.* Set the chocolate with the rum or chocolate in a small pan, inside of a larger pan with just simmering water. Let melt while you proceed with the recipe. Measure out the rest of the ingredients.

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- a 3 quart mixing bowl

-a wooden spoon or electric mixer

-1 stick of softened butter

-2/3 cup granulated sugar

2) Cream the butter and sugar for several minutes until it becomes a smooth, yellow mixture.

*This handy tool is used to seperate the egg yolks from the whites. I love it!*

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-whisk

-small bowl

- 3 egg yolks, room temperature

-pinch of salt

- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar

3) Beat the eggs whites along with the salt in a seperate bowl until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and continue to whisk briskly until stiff peaks are formed.

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- a rubber spatula

-1/4 pulverized almonds (*ground to a pulp using a blender or food processor, with sugar to avoid clumping. aAs well as making it easier to combine with other ingredients)

- 1/4 tsp almond extract

-1/3 cup cake flour, scopped into a sifter (I used all-purpose flour)

With a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, the nstir in the almonds and almond extract. Immediatly stir in one fourth of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter. Delicately fold in a third of the remaining egg whites and when partially blended, sift in one third of the flour and continue folding. Alternate rapidly with more egg whites and more flour until all are incorporated.

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Turn the batter into the cake pan, pushing the batter up to its rim with a rubber spatula. bake in middle level of preheated oven (350 degrees) for about 25 minutes. Cake is done when it has puffed, and 2 1/2 to 3 inches around the circumference are set so that when pierced with a toothpick it comes out clean; the centre should move slightly if the pan is shaken.

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a cake rack

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge and turn upside down onto a cake rack. Allow to cool for at least one hour. It must be thoroughly cooled before it is to be iced.

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Creme Au Beurre, Menagere

(Butter cream - with powdered sugar)

This should be made with an electric beater, it is heavy work by hand.

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-a 2 1/2 quart mixing bowl

-2 egg yolks

-2/3 cup sifted powedered sugar

-2 Tbsp of rum, orange liqueur, or strong coffee. OR 1 tbsp. of vailla extract OR 2 ounces of melted semi-sweet baking chocolate.

-1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) softened butter

-an electric beater, or whip

Rinse the bowl in hot water, dry it, and place all the ingredients listed. Beat at a moderate speed for about 5 minutes to obtain a smooth cream. Chill until the cream is cold but still malleable, then ice the cake.

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- approx. 1/2 cup slivered almonds

Press the almonds to the sides of the icened cake. Sprinkle any remaining almonds on top.