Chocolate Almond Cakes

These are named in honor of the Austrian composer Ignaz Pleyel, whose works were extremely popular in nineteenth-century France, to the extent that the Salle Pleyel, a theater where orchestral music is performed, was named for him. The recipe comes from Robert Linxe, master chocolatier and proprietor of La Maison du Chocolat, one of the best chocolate stores in the world, with branches in New York and Paris. Linxe is