Bete Noir Sublimely Decadent Chocolate Cake recipe |
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04/25/2011
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Ingredients360g Dark Chocolate - use the darkest that you can find. I used 85%250g Unsalted Butter - at room temperature 5 Extra Large Free Range Eggs 280g Superfine Castor Sugar 1/2 Vanilla Pod - slit with a sharp knife and seeds scraped out (Bury the used pod in some castor sugar in a bottle with a lid and you will have wonderful vanilla sugar to use in future baking expeditions) 1 Orange - finely grated zest only - this is entirely optional, I just love orange with chocolate 250ml Boiling Water DirectionsPreheat oven to 160CPlace oven rack in the centre of the oven Brush a 20cm deep cake pan with soft butter and dust lightly with cocoa powder Line the base of the pan with baking paper which you also brush with butter Chop the chocolate into rough chunks and cut the butter up into cubes Place the boiling water into a medium saucepan on the hob. Add 3/4's of the sugar, stir until dissolved then boil rapidly over high heat for no longer than 3 minutes to reduce it to a sugar syrup While the water is boiling crack your eggs into the bowl of your mixer, add the remainder of the sugar and beat until pale and thick Turn off the heat Add all the chocolate at once to the just boiled sugar syrup and whisk with a balloon whisk until all melted Start dropping in the butter one or two cubes at a time and whisking it into the chocolate mixture until it is all melted in and the mixture is thick and glossy - set aside until you are ready! Add the vanilla seeds and orange zest to the eggs and beat in Now add all the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and fold in gently until combined. Don't overbeat as you don't want to introduce air bubbles at this stage Scrape all the mixture into the prepared cake pan Set the cake pan on a folded tea towel (stops it from slipping) into a slightly bigger pan and fill up to the brim of the cake pan (without getting any of it into your cake mixture) with hot (not boiling) water. I find it easiest to do this once I have already placed the pan into the oven. Pouring water to the brim of the cake pan allows for really even baking Bake the cake, in its water bath, for approximately 30-40 minute. It needs to be firm on the top but still have a slight wibble wobble when you move the pan. A cake tester inserted should come out with some sticky crumbs attached Remove from the water bath and cool, in the cake pan, on a cooling rack. Once cold you can wrap tightly with glad wrap and put into the refrigerator for the night Remove from refrigerator an hour or so before you are going to be eating the cake To remove it from its cake pan, run a spatula around the edge of the cake then set it onto a hot plate for a second or two. I have a chefs blowtorch which did the job perfectly for me. I just heated all around the sides of the pan and the base of it then turned the cake out onto a plate. Remove the baking paper and then invert the cake onto another plate so that the top is upside. You can frost this with chocolate ganache if you wish but this cake is just so utterly decadent and rich that I simply dusted it with sifted icing sugar and served it with a dollop of creme fraiche and a few fresh raspberries which cut wonderfully through the richness of the chocolate. A thin wedge is more than enough for a portion. Read more on Kitchen Diary |
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