Chocolate Cake

When I asked my friend Daniela what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday party she said: "You know, what I like most of all is just a simple chocolate cake!" So I scanned my cookbooks for a good recipe and I stumbled upon one that I had marked with a post-it a long time ago. My friend over at Mainly Cake even declared this cake as "the best chocolate cake ever" so I finally had to give this one a try.

 

A word about the decoration: Daniela likes it kitschy and the duckies have something to do with her nickname so I thought this cake looked perfect for her birthday ;-)

And here comes the recipe (which is really easy by the way. A good one for baking beginners!)
(Original recipe in German at Annemarie Wildeisen's Kochen)

 

200g butter
200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
200g ground almonds 
200g brown sugar
1 packet of vanilla sugar / 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt 
4 eggs
3 tablespoons flour 
0.5 packet baking powder

Line a springform pan (about 26cm diameter) with parchment paper and butter the side. Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Put chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt slowly over a hot water bath. 

Take away from the water bath and add sugar, vanilla sugar, salt and almonds. Mix well, then scramble the eggs together and add to the chocolate-mix as well. Finally, add flour and baking powder. Quickly mix everything and immediately pour into your springform pan and bake for about 45 - 50 minutes.

Check whether the cake is done with a skewer. It should come out clean, otherwise, bake for a few more minutes. The cake should be a little creamy on the inside even when cooled completely.

When the cake is cool, either sprinkle with icing sugar or glaze with chocolate and decorate as you wish. 

This cake keeps in the fridge for a few days.