3rd July 2007

Ultimate Chocolate Cake

There must be a million 'ultimate' chocolate recipes, but this really is one of them!  My Mum made this cake for a very special family celebration 4 years ago and I just discovered the recipe handwritten in pencil on a scrap of paper and have started making it again to the delight of my friends.  For a little variation, use half plain dark chocolate and half dark flavoured chocolate (green & black's maya gold is my favourite).

250g dark 70% chocolate 
250g unsalted butter
6 eggs, separated
175g caster sugar
55g light brown sugar
55g ground almonds
3 tbsp plain flour, sifted
cocoa powder, to dust

Preheat oven to 190C.  Grease and line a 23cm spring form cake tin.  Melt chocolate and butter in a glass bowl over simmering water then set aside to cool slightly.  Whisk egg whites until stiff and in a separate bowl whisk egg yolks and sugars until thick.  Add the melted chocolate to the yolk mixture until well combined and smooth.  Fold in the almonds and flour with some of the egg white, then fold in the rest of the egg whites, being as light handed as possible.  Pour mixture into cake tin and bake for 20-25 minutes - there should still be a slight wobble in the centre of the cake, to retain it's 'moussieness'.  When cooled a little, remove from tin and dust with sifted cocoa powder.  Serve with vanilla ice cream or a mixture of double cream and creme fraiche.  Some macerated berries are always a nice addition on the side too.

Serves 8-12 (depending on the size of slices!)