I had a slight dilema the other day, some friends were coming for coffee and I fancied something chocolatey to go with it but on close inspection of my larder there was no chocolate and hardly any flour either. All I had was a tub of cocoa powder, some ground almonds, sugar and half a dozen eggs. Here is the end result.

The beauty of this cake, is that it’s very quick to make – only 10 minutes in the oven and if you mix it with an electric whisk,  2 minutes to put together.

Just so you know, this isn’t a light airy sponge cake. It’s a moist, dense, chocolatey one and really rather good. You can sandwich it together with Nutella or make up a simple chocolate fudge.

Ingredients:
200g ground almonds
200g caster sugar
100g bitter cocoa powder (Green & Blacks is good)
50g slightly runny unsalted butter (optional)
6 medium eggs

Equipment:
2 x 8” spring bottom sandwich tins
2 medium bowls
Greaseproof paper or baking parchment
Electric whisk
Spatula

Here’s What You Do:
Pre-Heat the oven to 200C/Gas 6

Generously grease both tins and line with parchment.

Separate the eggs tipping the yolks into one bowl and the whites into another.
Whip the whites with a pinch of salt until they form soft peaks (you don’t want them too stiff and dry)and put aside.

Melt the butter until soft and slightly runny then add to the yolks, Now tip all the dry ingredients on top and mix well together.

Add a tablespoon of whipped egg white to slacken the chocolate mixture, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites. It will be a thick mixure and look coarse and grainy but don’t worry. Divide the cake mixture between the two tins and spread with a spatula until the top is even.

Place on the middle oven shelf and bake for approx 10 minutes or until just set (the cake surface will spring back when lightly pressed. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins.

Once cool, transfer to a rack and spread with Nutella or a homemade chocolate fudge before sandwiching together. Store in an airtight container. Here’s a really simple homemade fudge, mix together 2 tbsp cocoa powder and 2 tbsp icing sugar, add 2 tbsp water (maybe a splash more if necessary)  stir to a paste, then add 1 tbsp peanut butter and mix well. Yum!

N.B: You can, if preferred, bake the mixture in a loaf tin and omit the filling altogether, in which case leave in the oven for roughly 25-35 minutes depending on size of tin.