CookEat Recipe
Almond and Chocolate Cake Diamonds
A gently baked chocolate-almond filling thickened with potato starch and milk, set over a thin plain pastry base and served cold in diamonds.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 150 g blanched sweet almonds; 150 g caster sugar; 100 g plain dark chocolate, finely grated; 60 g potato starch; 55 g butter: 50 g for the filling and 5 g for the covering paper; 300 ml whole milk; 4 eggs; 5 g vanilla sugar; 100 g plain flour for the pastry, plus about 10 g for rolling; About 50 ml water for the pastry, adjusted as needed; A pinch of salt for the pastry; 10 g plain rendered lard for greasing the tin.
Step 2
Dry the blanched almonds gently at about 120°C for 10–15 minutes without browning, then cool completely. Grind them very finely with 50 g of the measured caster sugar. For the pastry, mix 100 g flour with the pinch of salt and about 50 ml water, added gradually to form a smooth rollable dough. Knead briefly, cover and rest for 20 minutes.
Step 3
In a heavy saucepan over gentle heat, combine the 50 g filling butter and potato starch, then gradually work in the milk while stirring continuously. Cook until smoothly thickened. Add the grated chocolate and remaining 100 g caster sugar and stir until both have dissolved. Stir in the ground almonds, then the vanilla sugar, until evenly combined.
Step 4
Transfer the thick mixture to a shallow dish and cool promptly. Lightly beat the four whole eggs separately and mix them into the cooled filling; do not whip whites separately. Heat the oven to 150°C.
Step 5
Grease a roughly 25 × 20 cm tin with the lard. Roll the pastry thinly, about 1–2 mm, on the lightly floured surface and line the base and low sides, trimming excess. Spread the filling about 2 cm deep. Butter a sheet of baking paper with the remaining 5 g butter and place loosely over the filling, buttered side down, following the gentle covered baking method used for the ricotta cake.
Step 6
Bake for about 40–55 minutes until set and at least 74°C in the centre. Cool promptly in the shallow tin, refrigerating at 4°C or colder within 2 hours. Once thoroughly cold, cut into diamond-shaped pieces, each retaining its thin pastry base. Serve without an added icing or garnish and keep refrigerated for no more than 2–3 days.
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