The cake is simple to make, oh-so-rich in flavour and texture, and the perfect accompaniment to summer berries and cream.
This is a cake for special occasions and a decadent delight for breakfast. Waiting until afternoon tea time to eat the leftovers is a recipe for disappointment. Someone will have beaten you to it.
I first saw the recipe in a column food writer Jill Dupleix contributed to a series called ``My Favourite Chocolate Cake'' in Melbourne newspaper The Age in the 1990s.
But the recipe is much older than that.
It comes from David's book French Provincial Cooking, first published in 1960.
The cake's richness is the direct opposite of the ``bigger than Texas'' blight that has driven the obesity epidemic in much of the western world. It has none of the blandness that makes it easy to eat more than you should.
Like much French cooking it relies on the flavour and texture of fresh and rich ingredients to sate the senses.
A thin slice of this cake is heaven; a thick wedge would be sickening.
My much-loved newspaper cutting is yellow and creased after more than a decade in my ``Little Black Box''.
But last year I went in search of the original book, after hearing television foodie Rick Stein sing David's praises during a radio interview on ABC FM.
David travelled extensively through the Mediterranean countries, particularly Italy and France. Her books include both recipes and experiences collected on her travels. She has also written about cooking in England.
I have seen secondhand copies of many of her titles listed for a few dollars on Amazon. Copies are harder to find in Australia but it's worth keeping an eye out in secondhand bookshops.
So here is my favourite chocolate cake.
NB In this recipe I have given the quantities from Elizabeth David's original recipe in brackets. These are in imperial measures - in this case weights in ounces (oz) and temperature in Fahrenheit.
The metric measures are from Jill Dupleix's version, as this is the one I have always made.
I hope soon to try the original, which has slightly less chocolate and is baked in a slightly cooler oven, and will let you know which I prefer. I have changed the method slightly to reflect the way I usually make the cake.
Ingredients
200g (4 oz) bitter chocolate
100g (3 oz) butter
100g (3 oz) caster sugar
100g (3 oz) ground almonds
3 eggs (separated)
1 tab rum or brandy
1 tab black coffee
icing sugar (optional)
Break chocolate into small pieces, add the rum (or brandy) and coffee and melt in a heat-proof bowl over simmering water, or in a microwave.
Stir until the chocolate is melted. Add the butter, sugar and ground almonds and stir over low heat for a few minutes until all the ingredients are blended smoothly together.
Remove from the heat and add well-beaten egg yolks. Fold in the stiffly-beaten egg whites.
Turn into a lightly-buttered shallow sponge-cake tin, 18-20cm in diameter (7 or 8 inches) or a tart tin with a removable base.
[I use a sponge tin and line the base with baking paper.]
Stand the tin on a baking sheet and bake in a very low oven, 160C (290F) for about 45 minutes.
Allow to cool in the tin. Turn out carefully.
Serve it as it is or dust with a little icing sugar.
Perfect as a dessert with summer berries, cream or icecream.
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