As promised, the recipe for Greg’s birthday cake. Â It’s seriously good. Â Very chocolatey, but not overly sweet. Â Don’t be alarmed at how it looks before decorating, this cake is not about looks, but about taste! Â The recipe originally came from a magazine clipping, but I do not remember which magazine as it was a few years ago. Â I believe the recipe comes from a book called Sharing Plates, by Jared Ingersoll. Â The name of the cake from the magazine clipping was, The Best Chocolate Cake I know (I assume that is what it was called in the book too).
For those who use imperial measurement, I have done conversions for you. Â I hope it’s right.
Ingredients:
10 eggs
250gm (8.8oz) butter
500gm (17.6oz) good quality dark chocolate
1/4 (2oz) cup plain flour
1/4 (2oz) cup castor sugar
extra flour and butter for greasing and dusting cake tin
A dash of your favourite liqueur if desired (I used Cointreau)
Method:
Preheat oven to 205 (401F) degrees celsius. Â Grease a springform tin (approx. 22cm, or approx. 8in) with butter and dust lightly with flour. Â Grease an oven proof dinner plate that is big enough to sit over the edge of the tin.
Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and melt. Â Take off heat and allow melted chocolate to cool slightly.
Separate the eggs, placing the egg yolks in a small bowl and the egg whites in a large bowl.
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, add sugar, a little at a time, until sugar has dissolved.
Add the flour to the egg yolks and mix through until well combined.
In a large bowl, pour chocolate mixture and add egg yolk and flour mix and whisk until combined.
Using your hands, fold the beaten egg white mixture, a third at a time. Â You will need to work quickly. Â Pour mixture into prepared tin and place into preheated oven.
After 15 mins, gently place the plate, greased side down, on top of the cake, while it remains in the tin. Â Put the tin back in the oven for another 12 minutes.
Remove from oven and place the cake, still in the tin and covered with plate, on a rack for 24 hours.
The next day, remove dinner plate. Â Now don’t be alarmed at the look of the cake, it will have sunken in the middle (that’s a good thing). Â Remove the springform tin.
To serve, I usually fill the middle with seasonal berries, or if you wish, whipped cream. Â To slice, you may want to use a knife that has been heated in hot water to get nice smooth slices. Don’t cut the pieces too big, as it is quite rich and it would be sinful to waste it!
Enjoy!
