CLOUD FOREST CHOCOLATE CAKE

Prep Time: 25 mins Cooking Time: 35 mins Serves: 12

I’ve taught all my friends how to make this cake. It’s the king of cakes and simply sexy, the way to everyone’s heart. You can cut out the icing if you wish and simply serve the cake lightly dusted with icing sugar or cocoa powder.

Ingredients

For the cake:

180g 100% cacao finely grated. Suggestion, 100% Chulucanas Cacao

(Alternatively, use 260g of a dark chocolate like Peruvian Chulucanas 70 and reduce the raw cane sugar by 80g)

250g unsalted butter

6 eggs

50g light muscovado sugar

125g raw cane sugar

100g ground almonds

For the icing:

250ml double cream

75g golden raw cane sugar

90g cacao, finely grated

Equipment

25-cm springform cake tin

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Method

Preheat the oven to 170˚C. Lightly grease the cake tin, then line with baking paper.

Melt the cacao and butter together in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl is not in contact with the water. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Beat the eggs with the muscovado and raw cane sugar in a large bowl until pale and doubled in volume. Stir in the melted cacao and butter mixture, then carefully fold in the ground almonds until evenly mixed through.

Tip the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until slightly risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin on a wire rack to cool.

To prepare the icing, place the cream and sugar in a pan over low heat and bring just to the point of boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the grated cacao until melted and evenly mixed through. Set aside to cool.

When the cake is completely cold, place on a serving plate or cake board and spread the cooled icing evenly over the top and sides. Keep at room temperature until ready to serve. Don’t store in the fridge as the cake and icing can become too hard.