The Queen of Sheba

Happy 2nd Birthday Alice! 

My youngest niece turned two a short while ago and we all celebrated her birthday.  Alice had a wonderful time and was a little overwhelmed at all of the attention, particularly when it came to cutting the cake.  

My sister, Catherine, had made a fantastic spider cake, pictured here.  All Alice wanted to do was pat it which she did very carefully and fortunately after we had all taken photos of it.  Disaster was swiftly avoided. 

The cake itself was delicious. It is from a recipe for a Queen of Sheba cake.  Pretty much equal parts egg, sugar and almond meal.  Such a quick and easy cake to make.  This cake has been a regular visitor to our family's table for a number of years and it is always a winner.

Queen of Sheba Cake (Reine de Saba, as it is a French cake)

120g of unsalted melted butter

120g of caster sugar

120g of ground almonds

120g of melted dark chocolate

4 extra large eggs, separated

a pinch of salt

Melt the butter and chocolate together and cool together.

Mix in sugar, egg yolks and almonds.   My brother, Tim, recommends that you can add vanilla, orange rind or almond essence to flavour the cake but this is not necessary, it is entirely delicious on its own.

Beat the egg whites with the pinch of salt until stiff.  You can can reserve some of the sugar and beat it in here once they are stiff.

Mix in a quarter of the whites to lighten the chocolate mixture, then fold in the rest.

Pour into a greased mould (20-23cm) lined on the bottom with baking paper.

Bake at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes until the edges come away from the sides and a cake tester comes out clean.

Let the cake sit in the tin for a few minutes before turning it out to cool on a wire rack.

Serve the cake dusted with sugar, accompanied with whipped cream or coated with ganache or chocolate icing.  It is entirely up to you.  

Bon appetit!