1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick spray and line it with parchment paper.
2. Melt your chocolate and coconut oil together over low heat. At the bakery, I like to do this in a cake pan, popped into the preheating oven. But at home, you can put them together in a little saucepan and melt slowly over low heat. Once melted, and whisked together to be homogenous, just set the mixture aside while you whip up the eggs.
3. Place your egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or whisk them by hand using a whisk and a large bowl. Whisk until they are completely foamy, adding ½ cup (100 g) of the sugar. Continue to whisk until you have some mostly stiff peaks. The peaks will stand up on their own, but will still be shiny and luscious looking. Set aside.
4. Combine the egg yolks and remaining ¼ cup (50 g) of sugar in a separate stand mixer bowl and whisk vigorously until they are pale in color and form ribbons on top of itself when you lift up the whisk over the bowl. This takes about 5 minutes with a stand mixer on high speed. Add the chocolate mixture and mix to incorporate. Then, add the almond flour, salt, and vanilla and mix again to incorporate.
5. Fold the whites into the chocolate mixture, starting with about one-quarter of the whites and incorporating them fully to lighten the chocolate mixture. Then, add the rest of the whites and fold all together. Remember, when you are folding, use a rubber spatula and go under the whole mixture, folding what’s on the bottom and bringing it to the top. Do this until the two mixtures are homogeneous but still fluffy.
6. Pour into your prepared pan and pop into the oven. This is a recipe that performs best when you let the oven stay shut most of the time—if you are opening and closing the door, it can disrupt the rise of the egg whites and deflate your batter. When I tested this recipe at the bakery, I did have people opening and closing the oven a little and it still fared well, but I always recommend keeping the oven door closed as much as you can during baking.
7. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the torte no longer jiggles when you gently tap the pan and it doesn’t give too much when you press the middle.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the pan at room temperature, then store in the fridge overnight or for a day or two, until you want to eat it. I always add a sprinkle of powdered sugar and fresh berries, or Whipped Coconut Cream.

Excerpted from Perfectly Golden: Adaptable Recipes for Sweet and Simple Treats. Copyright 2020 by Angela Garbacz, photos by Daniel Muller. Reproduced by permission of The Countryman Press. All rights reserved.