Dark Chocolate And Almond Dream

Chop a 1/2 cup of the bleached almonds into pea-sized pieces and set aside. If you do not have bleached almonds, you can do this easily by pouring boiling water over the almonds and letting them sit for 5 minutes. Drain the water and pinch the almonds between your fingers to remove the skin.

Preheat the oven at 400u00b0 F.

Cut the chocolate into chunks, place in a bowl with the butter and melt together over simmering water. Set aside to cool.

Line the bottom and sides of a 7 1/2'' by 7 1/2'' pan with baking paper. To make this job easier, slightly soak the paper in cold water, then squeeze it and line the pan, drying any excess water with a kitchen towel.

Whip the sugar, eggs and vainilla extract at high speed until they are light and fluffy. Fold into the cooled chocolate mixture.

Put the remaining 1/4 cup almonds in a high speed food processor and reduce them to a powder.

Sift the flour and the salt together and stir into the chocolate. Add the powdered almonds and mix them in thoroughly.

Carefully add the chopped almonds and stir them carefully into the mixture.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake at 400u00b0 F for about 25 minutes or until the cake is completely set but still lightly soft. Let it cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the glaze. Heat the heavy whipping cream together with the honey up to 185 u00b0 F Then, remove from the heat source, add the chocolate and stir continuously until it is completely melted. Add the butter and mix thoroughly.

Pour this glaze over the brownie cake and spread it evenly. As an alternative, you can use 3/4 of the glaze to spread over the cake and reserve the other 1/4 to decorate the squares using a pastry bag.

Once the glaze is set, cut into squares of the desired size and serve.