makes
12
prep
20 minutes
cook
20 minutes
difficulty
Easy
makes
12
serves
preparation
20
minutes
cooking
20
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
Cakes
- ¼ cup (60 g) fine almond meal (almond flour), for dusting
- 3 eggs, separated
- ½ tsp (3g) salt
- 3 tsp + ⅔ cup (15 g + 150 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (115 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 115 g dark chocolate, melted
- ½ tsp (3 g) instant espresso powder
- 1½ tbsp (30ml) almond liqueur
- ¼ tsp (2 ml) almond extract
- ⅓ cup (75 g) fine almond meal (almond flour)
- ½ cup (56 g) cake and pastry flour (see Note)
Ganache Glaze
- 60 g dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp (30ml) almond liqueur
- 3 tbsp (45g) unsalted butter
- ½ tsp (3g) vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp (1g) salt
To decorate
- Sliced almonds, lightly toasted
Cool completely before icing.
Instructions
- For the cake, heat oven to 176°C (350°F). Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Sprinkle each cup with a tsp of almond flour to coat. Tap out any excess; set aside.
- Beat egg whites and salt together in a large bowl with a hand mixer until soft peaks. With hand mixer running, sprinkle in 1 tablespoon sugar; beat until stiff peaks. Transfer to a separate bowl and set aside.
- Using the same bowl, combine remaining sugar and butter. Beat on high until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in 3 egg yolks. Scrape down bowl and continue to beat until the mixture is light, about 2 minutes. Add melted chocolate slowly until combined.
- Combine espresso powder, liqueur and almond extract in a small bowl. Stream into chocolate mixture, beating well to combine.
- Whisk together flours in a medium bowl.
- Fold ⅓ of the egg whites into chocolate mixture, then gently fold in half the flour mixture, followed by another third of the whites. Repeat additions, ending with egg whites.
- Divide batter into muffin tins and bake until set and no longer shiny, about 13 to 15 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge of pan and flip cakes out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- For ganache glaze, melt together chocolate, liqueur and butter in a medium bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water. Cool for 5 minutes; stir in vanilla and salt.
- Cool to room temperature before spooning over cakes and sprinkling with almonds.
Note
• Cake and pastry flour is available from some supermarkets and specialists retailers. You can use normal plain flour instead.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
