We can change lives in Guatemala through school health programs and health career scholarships

I've been so honored to be a part of Shared Beat and traveling to Guatemala City has been life changing experience. It's wonderful to see children of families who are scavengers in the City Dump, who with intensive education and health care, are growing up to become doctors, nurses, and other professionals. It is wonderful to be a part of something that accomplishes more than you could ever hope to on your own, and you can be a part of that too, by making a small donation. I've included a video of making a Queen Victoria Torte, a flourless cake I learned to make when I was a baker at Texas French Bread in Austin. The bakery obtained the recipe from Maida Heatters cookbook The Best Chocolate Desserts published in 1978. She called it the Queen Mother cake because the recipe originated when an Austrian pianist, Jan Smeterlin, made the cake for a reception following a command performance for the Queen Mother, who declared it her favorite and asked for the recipe. I've always wondered if she baked her own cakes....

Ingredients:

CAKE:

6 ounces of finely ground almond meal (if you grind at home, I recommend sieving it)

6 ounces of semisweet chocolate (the best quality you can find/afford) melted and cooled

6 eggs, separated,

6 ounces of butter

3/4 c granulated sugar.

GANACHE:

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tsps espresso powder

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and put a rack 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. Line a 9 inch springform pan, or a two part cake tin with parchment paper.

2. Cream the butter and the sugar. Add the egg yolks one at a time and beat in.

3. Mix in the melted and cooled chocolate and the almond meal.

4. Beat the egg whites until they hold a shape but not until they are stiff. Gently fold in the egg whites. First mix a large spoonful into the chocolate mixture and then add the remainder in two or three portions, folding gently after each addition

5. Tip it into the prepared pan and put in the oven on a rack 1/3 of the way up from the bottom

6. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 and cooking for another 50 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 15 minutes before inverting it onto a baking rack and cooling to room temperature and inverting onto a cake plate.

For the ganache:

Scald the cream on the stovetop and add flavoring if desired (espresso powder or peppermint extract)

Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until it is combined. Allow the ganache to cool until it is just barely pourable, then pour over the cake, smoothing with a straight spatula.

Decorate with fresh flowers.