Recipe - Chocolate Hazelnut Torte

1 cup Butter; softened
1 1/3 cup Sugar
One half cup Ghirardelli cocoa
1 tablespoon Cognac
6 Eggs; separated
1 cup Hazelnuts; finely ground

DARK COCOA SAUCE
1 cup Ghirardelli cocoa
1 Three fourths cup Sugar
One half cup ;Water, hot
One half cup Milk
1 pn Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Heat oven to 325F. Cream butter with sugar. Mix in cocoa and cognac. Beat
egg yolks until fluffy; add to cocoa mixture and beat two minutes on
medium. Mix in nuts. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Stir 1/3 beaten
egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten; fold in remainder. Spread
into buttered 8" springform pan. Bake at 325 F for about 1 hour or until
firm in the center. Cool in pan before removing. (Cake will sink in the
center.) Spread Cocoa Whipped Cream into indentation in center of cake. Top
with Dark Cocoa Sauce, if desired.

Sauce: In small heavy saucepan, blend cocoa with sugar. Stir in hot water
and mix until smooth. Add milk and salt. Heat to boiling; cook for 2
minutes. Cool. Stir in vanilla. Serve over ice cream, cake or other
desserts.

Adapted from recipe from Ghirardelli Chocolate Company of San
Francisco

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini