Sophie Grigson's Italian chocolate and almond torte

Method

1. Line the base of a 24 cm (9½ inch) cake tin with non-stick baking parchment and grease the sides. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4.
2. Process the chocolate until finely chopped, but still retaining a little texture. If you don?t have a processor, chop the chocolate finely with a large knife.
3. Beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla essence until the mixture is pale and thickened a little. Fold in the chocolate and almonds and the butter.
4. Spoon into the prepared cake tin, and bake for about 50-60 minutes, until just firm to the touch.
5. Leave to cool in the mould, then turn out. Dust the surface with icing sugar before serving. Serve wedges of the cake with a little fruit, and a spoonful of crème fraiche.

The UK's leading home baking company Dr. Oetker is supporting Breast Cancer Care's Strawberry Tea event through its exciting new initiative, Bakemap.co.uk. The interactive microsite will invite the nation to upload their much-loved recipes and create a virtual cake map of the UK and Ireland, as well as encouraging visitors to use their baking skills and create fantastic dishes for their Strawberry Tea event. Get Britain Baking for Breast Cancer Care.

By Jennifer Shepherd