Chocolate Raspberry Torte

Ingredients

8 oz bittersweet chocolate

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 tsp vanilla extract, or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

7 oz sliced or slivered almonds

1/4 flour

Pinch salt

5 eggs

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup raspberries, plus more for decoration

1/4 raspberry jam

For the Ganache

5 oz bittersweet chocolate

1/2 heavy cream

Start by grinding 1 cup of the almonds in a food processor, or you can place them in a ziplock bag and beat them with a rolling pin until they are very finely ground.  The finer the better, really.  The remaining almonds should be kept whole and will be used to garnish the sides of the cake.  Next, melt the butter and chocolate gently and then  set aside to cool.  Then, beat the eggs vigorously; you should be able to notice that they will become lighter in color and will increase some in volume.  While continuing to whisk, slowly add the sugar to the eggs.  Then fold the eggs into the chocolate/butter mixture.  Finally, gently stir in the almonds, flour, and salt.  Then pour the batter into two 8 or 9 inch greased cake pans.  Place in a preheated 325 degree oven for 14 to 16 minutes.  Let these cakes cool for at least half an hour until you attempt to release them from their pans.  

Meanwhile, mash the raspberries until smooth and then mix with the jam/preserves.  Once the cakes are cooled and out of the pans, spread the raspberry preserves between the two layers.  

Place the second layer on top.  

These were the raspberries that we set aside to decorate the cake.  

This is after the bruised ones were mashed up.  

For the ganache, simply melt the chocolate with the cream and whisk until very smooth and glossy.  Then, drizzle the ganache over the cake, making sure to cover the sides.  Next, cover the sides with the almonds, reusing the pieces that fall off to cover other areas.  Finally, take best raspberries and place them around the edge of the cake.  I think it looks nice to leave the center empty so you can see the pure chocolate.  

The cake can be made a day or two in advance if you wish.  Enjoy!

I should also thank Grace, Taylor and Meghan for their help.