This is a real crowd pleaser. If you make it in an old jelly mould and lightly dust it with icing sugar or cocoa powder, a very simple cake becomes a real beauty.
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Serves 12
What You’ll Need:
- 300g dark chocolate. Suggestion fruity Peruvian Chulucanas 70
- 60g raisins
- 40g whole hazelnuts roughly chopped
- (Alternatively use 400g Willie’s Cacao Hazelnut and Raisin chocolate)
- 250g unsalted butter
- 6 eggs
- 100g raw cane sugar
For the icing (optional)
- 250ml double cream
- 75g golden raw cane sugar
- 90g cacao, finely grated
- Serve with whipped double cream
Equipment: 25-cm springform cake tin
What To Do:
- Preheat the oven to 170˚C. Lightly grease the cake tin, then line with baking paper.
- Melt the chocolate 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 sugar in a large bowl until pale and doubled in volume. Stir in the melted chocolate and butter mixture.
- 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.