spring, spring, springform

here is a receipe for something that i made two weeks ago. unfortunately since i had not yet started this little blog thing i was not thinking about taking pictures of it to post with the receipe. but at yesterday's lovely get-together, with a dear friend that i do not see nearly enough of, we inevitably spent some time talking about food, and this cake in particular... be warned though, this is incredibly rich and it can make ones whole house, and office, smell deliciously and distractingly of chocolate!

Gateau Lawrence
(from My French Kitchen)

6 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa)
12 tbs room temp. butter (unsalted, duh.)
2/3 c. sugar
1 2/3 c. ground sliced almonds (next time i make this i am going to be sure to grind them slightly longer, since they do sub for the flour in this)
4 large eggs, seperated

for the icing:
3 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa)
3 tbs butter

~ heat the oven to 300 degrees f.
~ line a 10 inch springform pan with parchment paper
~ chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt double boiler style in a heatproof bowl over a pan of water
~ cream together butter and sugar until soft and creamy
~ add almonds, egg yolks, melted chocolate (slightly cooled), and beat until blended
~ in a seperate bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff and then fold them into the batter
~ pour into springform and bake for 35 mins., the cake should be lightly crusted and springy
~ cool before removing sides of pan
~ once cool evenly spread top with the chocolate and butter that you have melted together in the same manner as before
~ to serve, slide the cake off the parchment paper onto something pretty