moist chocolate cake – My Whisk and I

250g whole hazelnuts
200g butter, cubed
200g dark chocolate, chopped
6 eggs, separated
200g caster sugar
45ml orange juice
80g hazelnut flavoured chocolate

Preheat your oven to 200℃.
Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for 10 minutes. Give the pan a shake halfway through baking time.
Spread the warm nuts between two tea towels and rub them so that the skins come off.
Turn your oven temperature down to 180℃ and spray a 22cm loose-bottom cake tin with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the tin with baking paper.
Add 200g of the cooled hazelnuts to a food processor and blitz until fine – a similar texture to that of breadcrumbs.
Add the butter and chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and allow to melt.
Remove from the heat and stir in the ground hazelnuts.
Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
Add the egg yolks and sugar to a mixing bowl and beat for 4 minutes with an electric whisk.
Add it to the hazelnut mixture and stir by hand until well combined.
Pour in the orange juice and stir through.
Add the egg whites to a clean bowl and whisk to stiff peaks.
Spoon a third of the whites into the hazelnut mixture and stir through to loosen.
Now add the remaining whites and gently fold through.
Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40 minutes.
Remove the cake and leave to cool in the baking tin for 30 minutes.
Unclip the outside ring and invert the cake on a serving plate.
Pull off the baking paper and leave the cake to cool completely.
Melt about 80g of hazelnut chocolate, pour on the cake and sprinkle over the remaining hazelnuts.

This is a glorious, genuine dark chocolate cake with an intense chocolate and red wine glaze. I use a Pinot Noir red wine as the berry notes mix perfectly with the dark chocolate aromas.

220g DeVilliersChocolate Intense or other dark chocolate, chopped
250ml sugar
200g butter, cubed
4 eggs
3,7ml salt
83ml flour

Glaze:
220g DeVilliersChocolate Intense or other dark chocolate, chopped
62ml butter, cubed
2,5ml salt
125ml icing sugar
125ml pinot noir or any other red wine

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and grease and flour a loose-bottom cake tin of 22cm in diameter.
Add the chocolate, sugar and butter to a heatproof bowl and set it oven a saucepan of simmering water.
Stir the mixture for 3 minutes or until melted and remove from the heat. Keep on stirring until the chocolate is completely smooth.
Scrape the chocolate mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
Set aside and allow to cool completely.

Set the mixer onto medium speed and add the eggs, one at a time.
Turn the mixer onto its highest speed.
Keep beating on high speed until the mixture has a very thick, mousse-like consistency.
Turn the mixer down to a low speed and add the salt and flour. Mix until smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 60 minutes.
It is important to test the cake for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the cake’s centre and checking that it comes out clean. If the toothpick/cake tester is sticky, bake the cake for a few minutes longer and test again.
Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Cool the cake in the tin.

For the glaze:
Add the chopped chocolate, butter and salt to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan with simmering water.
Stir for 3 – 5 minutes until melted.
Remove the bowl from the saucepan.
Sift the icing sugar directly into the melted chocolate mixture and whisk to combine.
Add the red wine to a small saucepan and place on the heat to warm the wine.
Remove the wine from the heat as soon as small bubbles start appearing at the edges of the pan.
Drizzle the wine into the chocolate mixture while whisking continuously until all the wine is incorporated.
Set the glaze apart for about 10 minutes so that it can thicken.
Place the cold cake onto a cooling rack set inside a baking sheet and pour the glaze evenly over the cake.
Allow the glaze to set – about 2 hours.

Tag: moist chocolate cake

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