I decided to make this cake for my dad for his birthday. He likes dense nutty cakes, and this sounded exactly to his tastes. I followed the recipe as it was written. The nut and yolk mixture was rather stiff for folding in the whites, but if you do the 1/3 first trick, it works ok. I think it probably lost a bit of air trying to get it mixed in, but I didnt fuss too much, and left it very slightly lumpy to avoid losing too much more. The cake cooked beautifully in 55 minutes, leaving it quite moist and smelling gorgeous. I decided, like others, to cut it into 2 layers, as it wasnt a very thick cake.(and who needs the extra cream?) I did however make it a little extra special by making a runny ganache with some melted chocolate, milk and a slosh of quintreau and spreading it on the bottom layer before the cream. This complemented the fresh strawberries we had with it perfectly. Everyone wanted a second piece! My dad is surely going to insist I make this one again.

Reviewed On: Sep. 27, 2005