1/4 c. raisins
1/4 c. Cognac
7 oz. German sweet chocolate
3 tbsp. water
1/2 c. butter
3 eggs
2/3 c. sugar
4 1/2 tbsp. cake flour
2/3 c. ground toasted hazelnuts

ICING:

3 oz. sweet chocolate
3 tbsp. confectioners' sugar
3 tbsp. butter
Hazelnuts to garnish

Steep raisins in cognac at least an hour or overnight. Cut out a circle of waxed paper to fit a 9 inch round cake pan. Butter and flour it (including the waxed paper). Melt chocolate in double boiler with water until smooth. Cut up butter and stir in a piece at a time. Separately, beat 3 egg yolks with sugar until mixture is pale creamy yellow. Combine this with chocolate. Stir in cake flour and ground hazelnuts. Then add raisins and cognac.

Whip 3 egg whites until stiff. Fold 1/3 of them into the chocolate to lighten the batter, and then the rest. Bake the cake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees. Let cake rest 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack, turning the cake out so the bottom is on top.

To ice: Melt 3 ounces sweet chocolate in a double boiler, and stir in 3 tablespoons of confectioners' sugar. Stir in 3 tablespoons butter, a little at a time. Immediately spread over the cake. press more hazelnuts around the sides.