The Best Chocolate Cake

No chocolate cake I have tried has beaten this one. Dense, rich and mousse-like, a slither will do. It uses an obscene amount of chocolate and is a must for any chocolate lover. 

Ingredients

300g good quality plain chocolate

230g unsalted butter, softened

300g caster sugar

60g plain flour

8 eggs (separated)

Ganache Icing:

300g good quality plain chocolate

350g double cream

Chocolate Leaves:

100g good quality plain chocolate

Bunch of mint leaves

 Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a cake tin.

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie (heatproof bowl placed over a pan of simmering water). Don’t stir the chocolate at this stage as it can go lumpy.

Stir in the cubed butter until melted. Leave to cool slightly then add the egg yolks, sifted flour and add the sugar.

  

Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff peaks. Make sure the bowl is clean otherwise they won’t whip. 

Fold half the whites into the chocolate mixture with a spatula or metal spoon. There is no other raising agent in this cake so keeping in as much air as possible is essential. Fold in the remaining egg whites.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for around 45 minutes. It should be slightly underdone in the middle. If tested with a skewer it may appear under cooked, but it will firm up as it cools. The cake is prone to sinking slightly in the middle so it should be iced upside down.

Meanwhile, make the icing by placing the cream and chocolate in a bain marie and stirring until melted.

 Once the cake is cool, pour over the ganache and leave to set.

Chocolate Leaves

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie. Pick the mint leaves off the stalks and with a paint brush, paint the underside of the leaves with a thick layer of chocolate. Leave to set in the fridge and carefully peel the leaf off the chocolate. Some of these will break, so it is wise to make extra.

Arrange the leaves on top of the cake. In summer it looks pretty to add some crystallised rose petals.