Queen of Sheba Cake

I decided to try something different today. In our family, we usually have a dessert on Saturday evenings and there's nothing better than baking up a treat on a Saturday afternoon. I saw a recipe a few weeks ago from a Sunday magazine and thought I'd give it a go. It's called the Queen of Sheba cake for whatever reason (I have absolutely no idea why!) and looking online, I found out it was originally a Julia Childs recipe. So here's my take on the Queen's chocolate cake and it turned out pretty pretty pretty nice.

Ingredients (serves 8)
Cake:
125g dark chocolate (I used 80% cocoa Lindt chocolate)
125g unsalted butter, cubed and softened
125g caster sugar
3 medium eggs, separated
1tsp vanilla extract
1tbsp rum
25g ground almonds
50g plain flour
1/2tsp cream of tartar
1tsp cider vinegar

Frosting:
100g dark chocolate
25g unsalted butter
1tbsp cold coffee

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan/gas mark 4
2. Butter a 20in round cake tin and line the base with baking paper
3. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Leave aside to cool
4. Put the butter into a food processor and whiz until creamy. Add 100g sugar and whiz until blended
5. Add the next ingredients in this order, whizzing each separately for a few seconds until each ingredient is incorporated. First the egg yolks, then the chocolate, then the sugar, then the vanilla, then rum, followed by the ground almonds and flour. Once it's all fully mixed transfer to a large mixing bowl
6. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites and the rest of the sugar, adding the sugar in two portions. Then add the vinegar and whisk
7. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in three lots. Once mixed, pour into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 25/30 minutes until it's still soft but the middle doesn't wobble too much
8. Once baked, take out of the oven and run a knife around the edge of the cake and leave to cool

9. After the cake is fully cooled, make up the frosting by melting the chocolate and butter over a pan of simmering water. Stir in the coffee
10. Transfer the cake onto a wire rack and turn upside down as you'll be frosting the bottom of the cake.
11. Frost the top of the cake and the sides and leave to set for an hour

And there you have it, a Queen of Sheba cake! Lovely served with freshly whipped cream or just as yummy by itself.