Chocolate and Almond Cake

This cake is really fantastic! Light, yet rich and terribly simple to make. I wish I took this picture but my friend Marius "the gentle giant" from Norway took a series of pictures for a dessert book which is still to be published!

225g butter, room temperature

2 dl caster sugar

1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out

1 dl brown sugar

4 eggs, separated

200 g sweet almonds

200g dark chockolate 70%

icing sugar to dust

1. Butter a round loose based pan (25cm) and put baking paper in the bottom so it will be easier to remove the cake from the base.

2. Put the butter, 1 ½ dl sugar, vanilla seeds and brown sugar in a bowl and whisk together until fluffy. Then add the egg yolks and stir together with a spatula.

3. Put the almonds in a food processor and pulse until fine sandy consistency. Add the almonds and chockolate to the bowl and mix together

4. Whisk the egg whites with the rest of the sugar until stiff in a separate bowl. Add ½ the egg whites to the cake mix and fold together, then add the other half and fold again. Pour the cake mix in the baking pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes and shift some icing sugar on top. Serve with strawberries and whipped cream.