Dark chocolate cake with death-by-chocolate icing

Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease and line a 23cm spring form cake tin.

For the cake, melt the chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before stirring in the castor sugar, almonds, flour, baking powder and eggs. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake until puffed up and cooked through, 20 – 25 minutes. Cracks will appear on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before icing.

For the white icing, mix together all the ingredients in a bowl, using an electric beater, until light and fluffy.

For the chocolate icing, heat the cream in a pot over high heat until it reaches shiver stage (when the cream is just about to reach boiling point and the surface starts to ‘shiver’). Make sure not to boil the cream. Add the chocolate and remove from heat. Whisk until the chocolate has melted. You can place it back on the heat if it cools too quickly. Allow the icing to cool but not set – it must still be runny enough to pour over the cake.

Ice the cooled cake with the white icing using a spatula. Pour the chocolate cream mixture over the white icing, decorate with cocoa nibs, chocolate balls, dark chocolate bits or any other toppings of your choice and serve.