We all have guilty indulgences.

Try hanging out with Roxie.

She can move anyone into the zone of wanton excess.

2,3,4 times in one night!

you'll be amazed at how many times you come back for more!

And she just doles it out as though it's chocolate cake.

(oh, it is!)

She's nuts. Absolute nuts, I tell you.

Well, almonds. Ground almonds, actually.

Roxie is a flourless chocolate cake.

Very simple. Chocolate, butter, eggs, almond meal and sugar.

The trick with Roxie, and this is a girl who knows tricks, is quality.

There is nearly a pound of chocolate in this cake, so you can taste the quality of the chocolate.

This needn't be prohibitive. I buy slabs of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate for just over $3 a pound.

Same goes for the butter and eggs.

Roxie is an easy cake. Melt the chocolate, butter and sugar together. Beat in the egg yolks, stir in the almonds and then fold it all through the beaten egg whites. Bake for 25 minutes.

She can be hot or cold.

I prefer her served room temp with lashings of chocolate ganache and adorned with chocolate meringues.

A handy lass to have around at this time of the year.

click on the pic for the full recipe

The hotel Sacher in Vienna is credited with the eponymous Sachertorte.

Dense chocolate cake with a thin layer of marmalade covered in chocolate.

Roxie knows a thing or two about a blue Danube.

Try heating up a little marmalade, strain it, spread it over the cooled cake and then cover with the chocolate ganache. you might even mix a little Grand Marnier in with the marmalade.

Lose the meringues and add a little gold dust.

Don't forget Roxie's friends.

Click on the pic to go to the cake stable on thelovebite.com

If you get that phone call from a panicked host(ess) asking you to bring a dessert, these are all options which speak to the ease of the moment without sacrificing the celebration of the season.

In my fervour to share my Christmas playlist with you all, I linked it twice, making it impossible to view.

Not being able to bear the thought of any of you missing Emmylou and the McGarrigle sisters' yuletide offerings, I am adding it in here.

Thanks.

Sweet words and wishes are the ingredients of good living.

May your fork always be full in the new year.

Till then, let the love flow!

Mannix

mannix@thelovebite.com