Must. Have. Sunken Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake.

What more is there to say?

Quite a bit, actually.  I came across this recipe in the same old magazine that had the marbled quail eggs I made last week.  Under the heading of 'Choc Tactics' were chocolate offerings from celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Jill Dupleix, Nigella Lawson and Delia Smith. What a lineup!

This is Rick Stein's Sunken Chocolate Cake.  It is sunken because there is only a little flour to hold it up, and it's very like a brownie in looks - crisp, cracked top and fudgey, rich interior.  The texture, though, is more like a souffle, a light-as-air, chocolatey, melt-in-the-mouth experience.

It is well worth the many mixing bowls I had to wash up after making the cake... 

Sunken Chocolate Cake

serves 8

Ingredients

225g unsalted butter

225g good-quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces

50g almond meal

60g plain flour

6 medium eggs, at room temperature, separated

50g light soft brown sugar

175g caster sugar

Icing sugar, to dust

Thick cream, to serve

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 180 deg C.  Grease a 23cm springform cake pan and line with baking paper.

2.  Place butter and chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water (don't let the water touch the bowl). Leave until melted, then stir until smooth.  Set aside to cool slightly.

3.  Sift together the almond meal and flour. 

4.  Place the egg yolks in a large bowl with the light brown sugar and whisk until pale and creamy.  Gently fold in the melted chocolate, followed by the almond meal and flour mixture.

5.  Place eggwhites in a large bowl and whisk until soft peaks form.  Then whisk in the caster sugar, a little at a time, to make soft meringue (do not let the eggwhites get too stiff, or they will be difficult to fold in).  Fold into the chocolate mixture with a large metal spoon.

6.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes until a skewer poked into the cake comes out a bit wet (the cake is best when slightly undercooked).

7.  Cool, then remove cake from the pan. Serve with icing sugar dusted over, and with a dollop of thick cream.

Recipe from delicious (April 2003)

Some of the delicious ingredients. Rick Stein recommends using Valrhona Noir Gastronomie chocolate. I used Lindt with 70% cocoa solids, which is a brilliant substitute.

Lots of debris while making this cake, including about 4 mixing bowls

My cake didn't sink very much, but its light texture was not compromised. 

Served with a dollop or two of pure cream.