Seriously rich chocolate cake

Seriously rich chocolate cake

Dark, rich and delicious - the perfect dessert

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Cuts into 8-10 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 35 mins

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas 3/fan oven 150C. Grease a 23cm/9in springform cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper or baking parchment. Dust the sides with a little flour. Put the chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Heat until melted, then remove the bowl from the pan and stir until smooth. Leave for about 5 minutes to cool slightly.
  2. Stir in the egg yolks, ground almonds, and the liqueur, if using. Put the egg whites into a large bowl, add a pinch of salt and whisk until soft peaks form. Continue whisking, sprinkling in the sugar a little at a time, until stiff peaks form. Stir 2 tablespoons of the whites into the chocolate mixture, then carefully fold in the remainder until no traces of white are left.
  3. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until well risen and just firm to the touch. Cool in the tin (don't worry if the cake sinks and cracks slightly - it will still be fine). You can make the cake up to this stage up to four days ahead and keep it in an airtight container in a cool place. It also freezes well for up to one month.
  4. To serve, remove the cake from the tin and peel away the lining paper. Sift cocoa powder liberally over the top and cut into slices. Serve with crème fraîche.

Per serving for eight

401 kcalories, protein 10g, carbohydrate 24g, fat 30 g, saturated fat 11g, fibre 2g, salt 0.66 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, January 2002.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • 03 November 2007

    Adriana commented on this recipe

    Can this be made a day in advance? Do you need to keep it in the refrigerator? Thanks. I'm planning to make it as a birthday cake for a friend and one of the party cannot eat wheat so this will be a perfect treat for everyone.

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  • 09 November 2007

    Helen commented on this recipe

    I made this for a family gathering to celebrate my daughter's birthday. She is a chocoholic and thoroughly enjoyed it, as did my daughter in law who is gluten intolerant. My grandaughter, aged 2 years, was sorry she was only allowed a taste! It is very rich and no-one could manage a second piece. My daughter and her husband took the leftovers home so I never did get the chance of seconds! I'll have to make it again.

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  • 11 November 2007

    Adriana rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Birthday cake was a success! Very rich and totally delicious. Perhaps next time I'll be a bit more generous with the amount of alcohol in it as I felt it needed a little kick.

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  • 03 December 2007

    annie commented on this recipe

    can freeze for 1 month - no flour/wheat

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  • 28 December 2007

    food commented on this recipe

    this was fantastic I made individual cakes in muffin cases for my godsons wedding they when down a treat especially his mum who is gluton intolerant

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  • Binder photo fi

    14 March 2008

    fi commented on this recipe

    Truly delicious! I didn't have enough ground almonds so used 40g SR flour. Doesn't need any decoration other than cocoa, would be too rich

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  • 04 July 2008

    Gwen rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This cake was SERIOUSLY rich and yum! Made it for my friend's 16th birthday. She absolutely loved it!!

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  • 04 July 2008

    artbysuz commented on this recipe

    This is a super rich cake worth making.

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  • 01 August 2008

    Bookworm rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Have made this cake a few times - it is great but not the best.

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  • 24 August 2008

    tweedletwo commented on this recipe

    not sure where i went wrong with this one, i turned out really heavy and not very tasty - looked good when it came out of the oven but as soon as i stuck a squewer into it to see if it was done it just sunk. Might try it again but find using gluten free flour in other cakes works better.

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  • 15 December 2008

    Nead rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • 28 March 2009

    dippyd rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    quite a dense cake, delicious, but not sure if its my favourite

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  • 26 September 2009

    katiesobol rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Loved this cake - made it for my little girl's birthday party as there were a number of guests who were gluten intolerant. They were so pleased to not only have cake that wouldn't give them a stomachache, but also one that tasted great. Everyone else thought it was delicious too - hit all round

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Cuts into 8-10 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 35 mins

Ingredients

  • 100g butter , diced, plus extra for greasing
  • flour , for dusting
  • 140g best-quality dark chocolate , with 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
  • 6 large eggs , separated
  • 140g ground almonds
  • 1 tbsp kirsch or Cointreau (optional)
  • pinch of salt
  • 85g caster sugar
  • cocoa powder and crème fraîche, to serve
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Per serving for eight

401 kcalories, protein 10g, carbohydrate 24g, fat 30 g, saturated fat 11g, fibre 2g, salt 0.66 g

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