Flourless dark chocolate and almond cake (Gateau Lawrence) / Lawrenceov kolač

I've baked this cake a million times. And it always surprises me. It's a perfect base for a decadent chocolate cake which will thrill all of your guests for your birthday, or any other celebration. Though you don't have to, I always add apricot or mandarin/orange jam because it pairs well and it's a nice contrast to the cake giving a bit of acidity to fudgy and appetizing base.
The recipe can be found in the book French kitchen (one of my favorite cookbooks), though I always put less sugar.

Ingredients
serves 6
180g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
175g butter, softened
80g unrefined sugar (I used dark muscovado)
200g ground almonds
4 eggs, separated

+ 4tbs mandarin/orange jam
   100g dark chocolate (couverture)
     50g butter

1. Heat the oven to 150°C/gas 2.

2. Line a 25 cm push-up-bottom or springform cake tin with baking parchment.
Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it in a bain-marie (that is, in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water).
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until soft and creamy, using an electric whisk if you have one. Add the ground almonds, egg yolks and melted chocolate, and beat until evenly blended.
4. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, add to the cake mixture and quickly fold in until evenly mixed using a large metal spoon. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 35 minutes. A light crust will form on the top and the middle should still be a little squishy. Leave to cool a little before carefully removing from the tin.
5. For the icing, melt the chocolate and butter in a bain-marie, drizzle the mandarin jam over the cake and than put the icing, leave to set.

*You can replace almonds with toasted hazelnuts.

Recept na hrvatskom

Za mene, ovo je jedna od najboljih čokoladnih torti koje sam imala priliku probati. Jednostavna je za napraviti, odlična sama za sebe ili kao baza za tortu koju ćete obogatiti kremom - čokoladnim ganacheom ili džemom od mandarine kao ovdje na slici. Svakako preporučam da probate ako još niste, recept je inače iz kuharice "Francuska kuhinja" autorica Joanne Harris i Fran Warde. 

Sastojci za 6 osoba
180 g tamne čokolade (najmanje 70% kakao udjela)
175 g omekšalog maslaca
80 g nerafiniranog šećera (koristila sam tamni muscovado i smanjila količinu, u original receptu je navedeno 125 g)
200 g mljevenih badema
4 jaja, odvojiti žumanjke od bjelanjaka

+ 4 velike žlice džema od mandarine ili naranče
   100 g tamne čokolade (najmanje 50% kakao udjela)
   50 g maslaca

1. Pećnicu stavite grijati na 150C.
2. Kalup za torte promjera 25cm obložite papirom za pečenje. Tamnu čokoladu otoite na pari.
3. Maslac i šećer miksajte dok ne postanu kremasti. Dodajte žumanjke, mljevene bademe i ohlađenu otopljenu čokoladu pa miješajte dok se sastojci ne sjedine.
4. Bjelanjke umutite u čvrsti snijeg pa pažljivo silikonskom špatulom primiješajte smjesi od čokolade i badema dok se sve ne sjedini.
5. Smjesu ulijte u pripremljeni kalup pa pecite 35 minuta. Pustite da se ohladi pa izvadite biskvit iz kalupa.
6. Čokoladu i maslac otopite na pari, pustite da se ohladi na sobnu temperaturu. Biskvit premažite sa džemom od mandarine/naranče i zatim ohlađenom otoljenom čokoladom.

*Bademe možete zamijeniti tostiranim i mljevenim lješnjacima pa ćete dobiti nešto nalik nugat torti.