Chocolate Almond Brownie Cake

Every Tuesday night, we have "Brownie Tuesdays", which involves Mom making a big ol' pan of brownies, and pudding and whipped cream for topping, and all the kids lapsing into blissful sugar coma. Well, this recipe in the Kitchenaid booklet looked interesting, so I tried it. It was quite pretty, and good, too. Chocolate chips could be substituted for the chocolate squares, as could bitter chocolate, with the addition of more sugar.

CHOCOLATE ALMOND BROWNIE CAKE

Cake:
7 squares semi sweet chocolate (7 oz. total)
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp flour

Glaze:
1 square semi sweet chocolate (1 oz)
1 tsp butter

Topping:
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
sliced almonds

Melt chocolate with butter; cool slightly.
Beat egg whites until stiff.
Beat together chocolate mixture, sugar and almond extract. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the flour and beat just until combined. Fold in egg whites with spatula.
Spoon the batter into a greased 8" springform pan, and bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes, until set in center. Cool completely on wire rack before glazing.
Move the cake to a serving dish. Melt 1 oz semi sweet chocolate and 1 tsp butter together, and drizzle over the cake. Sprinkle with almonds. Whip the cream with powdered sugar and almond extract, and pipe or spoon the cream around the edges of the cake. Store in refrigerator.
My brownie cake is rather thin, because my springform pan is 9" diameter, but I don't sweat the small stuff. The kids liked this, although it wasn't sweet enough for my husband's liking. Given my dislike of chocolate stuff other than chocolate, I only tried the whipped cream; it was great!