Chocolate Espresso Cake

 This recipe is one of my favourites and is based on Elizabeth David's recipe in "Mastering the Art of French Provincial Cooking". It uses no flour and is therefore is very good for celiacs and diabetics since, for a cake, it has a comparatively low glycemic load. It is excellent with a cappucino.

100g of bitter chocolate
75g each of butter, caster sugar and ground almonds
3 eggs
1 tablespoon each of rum or brandy and black coffee.

Break the chocolate into small pieces; put them with the rum and coffee to melt in a cool oven. Stir the mixture well, put it with the butter, sugar and ground almonds in a saucepan and stir over a low fire for a few minutes until all the ingredients are blended smoothly together. Off the fire, stir in the well-beaten egg yolks, and then fold in the stiffly-whipped whites. Turn into a lightly-buttered shallow sponge-cake tin of about 20cm diameter, or a tart tin with a removable base of the same size. Stand the tin on a baking sheet and cook in a very low oven,150°C., for about 45 minutes. This cake, owing to the total absence of flour, is rather fragile, so turn it out,when it is coolvery carefully. It can either be served as it is, or covered with lightly whipped and sweetened cream. It is a cake which is equally good for dessert or for tea-time.