Wholemeal Almond and Chocolate Cake

I spotted this little beauty of a cake in the Good Living section of the SMH paper one week, and they mentioned how nurturing it is that it is often brought round at times of births and need. So I made it for a friend who had just given birth and we all loved it so much, that I made it again for a sweet tooth friend of mine who texted back that morning after taking it to work that I was "the Beethoven of cakes!

It is such a great combination of nurturing whole meal, satisfying dark chocolate chips, and moistening almond meal.

It freezes well, and make sure the tin is not too large or it will be too thin and dry.

Pictured: Wholemeal Almond and Chocolate Cake

125g butter
1 cup sugar, raw preferably
3 eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 cup wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
200g dark chocolate (70%), chopped
125g ground almond meal, or hazelnut meal
Handful chopped nuts – I like to use mainly pine nuts, but I also add a mix of almonds, brazil anything else I have, they all work

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 23cm cake tin*.

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs gradually beating well after each.

Fold in milk, flour and baking powder and mix well.

Add the chocolate and ground meal.

Spoon into the prepared cake tin, sprinkle nuts on top.

Bake 30 - 40 minutes, check at 30 with a skewer as you do not want to over cook this cake as it will go from delicious to dry ( If so add cream!)

*If using a wider tin it will likely require a shorter cooking time and the texture will be different =- be careful not to overcook it as it can get too dry. If using a smaller 21cm tin it may take up to 1 hour in total and you will therefore need to cover the top at half way with baking paper so the nuts don’t burn.

Let sit in the tin a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Serves 8-10