Twice baked chocolate cake

For Valentines, I wanted to bake something special for my family and while looking for a different chocolate cake recipe, I stumbled upon this one. It ticked all the boxes and sounded decadent on paper, so I had to give it a go.

And oh my, it didn’t disappoint.

It’s only got five different ingredients; dark chocolate, butter, cocoa powder, eggs and sugar. I would recommend to try and get the best quality, as it makes a massive difference in taste.

It can be an expensive present , so make it only for the people you love.

To achieve the different textures in the cake, you will have to over-bake the bottom and underbake the top layer.  Easy, right?!

Give it a go, and let me know how you get on with it.

• I have to give full credit to pastry chef Ravneet Gill for this incredible recipe—her instructions were spot on!

Serves 8

Prepare 15 minutes

Cook 1hr 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 240g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

• 240g 70% dark chocolate, roughly chopped

• 7 eggs, separated

• 260g castor sugar

• 15g cocoa powder, sifted

• Crème fraîche or sour cream, to serve (optional )

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C fan/190C/375F/gas mark 5 and grease a 20.5cm/8inch springform cake pan with butter and line with baking parchment

2. Melt the chocolate and butter together over a bain-marie, then transfer to a large mixing bowl to cool slightly

3. Put the egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a mixing bowl with 160g/5 ½ oz/ ¾ cup of the sugar. Whisk together until fluffy using the whisk attachment or a handheld electric whisk. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar to soft peaks.

4. Pour the yolks and sugar into the chocolate and butter mixture and stir together. Fold in the egg whites and sugar in three batches, then fold in the cocoa powder in two batches.

5. Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes until risen and a skewer comes out completely clean. Take out of the oven and leave to cool slightly. Turn the oven down to 160C fan/180C/350F/gas mark 4.

6. When the cake is cool, press the edges down gently so it’s flat. Pour the remaining cake mixture into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until the outer edges have risen and the middle is slightly soft and jiggly.

7. Allow to cool in the pan completely before removing. This cake is best eaten on the day it is made, but it can be wrapped and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.