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Flourless Chocolate cake with Chocolate Mousse Layer

I was asked to make a triple chocolate cake to go in the freezer for New Years eve for a friends Mum so I did a little tester on my family this weekend at our mini christmas dinner. I ended up doing a double as it looked so rich and I also don't like white chocolate and it was amaaaaazing. You don't need to do the mousse layer on top but it was really good having the two different textures.


serves 18-20

240g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
360g dark chocolate, broken up
290g light muscovado sugar
4 tbsp water
5 large eggs, separated
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 170˚C. Grease a 20cm springform cake tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment.

Put the butter and chocolate in a big heatproof bowl. Heat the brown sugar and water in a small saucepan until it boils then pour it over the chocolate and butter, stirring well until it has turned into a runny sauce. If it doesn't all melt then put the bowl above some simmering water until it's smooth. Stir in the egg yolks one at a time and put the mixture aside to cool down to room temperature.

Put the egg whites in a big bowl with the pinch of salt and whisk until they are firm but not too dry.
Using a big spoon gently fold the whites into the mix a third at a time until all incorporated.

Pour 2 thirds into the cake tin and level with a palette knife. Leave the rest of the mix till later. Bake the cake in the oven for 40 mins until a skewer comes out almost clean. Remove from the oven and leave to completely cool.

Flatten the top of the cake with a palette knife, it doesn't matter if you break the crust a bit. Pout the rest of the batter on top and level the surface then return to the oven for 20-25 mins. The cake should still have moist crumbs when checked with a skewer.
Leave to cool completely.

If you want double chocolate madness then add 1 quantity of my chocolate mousse recipe.

225g good quality dark chocolate broken up
70g butter in pieces
350ml double cream
2 large eggs
1 tsp of honey

Slowly melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water, when melted remove off the heat.
In a separate bowl, semi whip the cream until soft peaks but no further.
In a third bowl whisk the eggs and honey until light and fluffy, around 5 mins.
Then fold the Amaretto into the eggs along with the melted chocolate and cream. Fold gently so not to lose too much air and when it is all mixed together pour into the cake tin and level the top out with a palette knife and stick in the fridge to set for at least an hour.

Dust with cocoa powder to serve.

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