Cake Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups skinned Almonds
• 6 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate; Chopped
• ¾ cup Sugar
• 6 oz. Butter (Unsalted)
• 6 large Eggs; Separated
• 1 tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice

• ½ cup Heavy Cream
• 2 tsp. Instant Coffee Powder
• 8 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate; Chopped

• Place almonds in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
• Toast almonds in a 350 degree oven for about 15- minutes or until the almonds are lightly colored and fragrant. Do not overcook, they will become bitter.
• Shake the pan occasionally to turn almonds while toasting.
• Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees,
• Gently grease the bottom of a 9" spring-form pan.
• Dust lightly with flour.
• Shake out any excess and set prepared pan aside.
• Warm chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over warm water. Do not burn or scorch.
• Cover until partially melted, then stir until smooth.
• Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Place ¼ cup sugar with the almonds in a food processor..
• Chop until nuts are fine and powder-like.
• Set aside.
• Put aside remaining ½ cup sugar.
• In a large mixing bowl beat the butter until soft.
• Add ¼ cup of sugar and reserve the remaining 1/4 cup sugar for use later.
• Beat sugar and butter until thoroughly combined.
• Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and continue to beat until smooth.
• Add the melted chocolate and blend on low speed until combined.
• Add almonds and continue to beat mixture on a low speed setting.
• In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat the egg whites with salt and lemon juice.
• Start on low speed and gradually increase until the egg whites hold a soft shape.
• Reduce speed again and add remaining 1/4 cup sugar.
• Then on high speed, beat egg whites to soft peaks.
• Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture about one-third at a time until blended.
• Pour the cake batter into the prepared spring form pan an quickly rotate to level the batter.
• Bake for 20-minutes at 375-F degrees, then reduce heat to 350-F degrees and continue to bake an additional 50-minutes.
• Remove cake from pan when cooled, after about 1-hour.

• To prepare the icing, scald the heavy cream over medium heat until a thin skin forms on the top.
• Add the coffee powder and whisk to dissolve.
• Add the chocolate and continue whisking until it dissolves.This will probably only take a minute or two.
• Remove from heat and continue to stir to finish melting the chocolate.
• Let icing cool for about 15-minutes, then pour over the top of the cake, starting at the center.
• Gently push the icing with a spatula over the sides to dribble down the cake.
• Top with shaved chocolate, or whipped cream just prior to serving.
• A fresh strawberry is an optional garnish with each served slice.