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 10.0g, carbohydrate 24.0g, fat 30.0 g, saturated fat 11.0g, fibre 2.0g, sugar 22.0g, salt 0.66 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, January 2002.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo Adriana

    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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  • Binder photo Helen

    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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  • Binder photo Adriana

    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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  • Binder photo annie

    03 December 2007

    annie commented on this recipe

    can freeze for 1 month - no flour/wheat

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  • Binder photo food

    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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  • Binder photo Gwen

    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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  • Binder photo artbysuz

    04 July 2008

    artbysuz commented on this recipe

    This is a super rich cake worth making.

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  • Binder photo Bookworm

    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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  • Binder photo tweedletwo

    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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  • Binder photo Nead

    15 December 2008

    Nead rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo dippyd

    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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  • Binder photo katiesobol

    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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  • Binder photo Freya

    26 June 2010

    Freya rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Just one word : lovely ! Should you nevertheless have any leftovers, they easily keep until the next day.

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  • Binder photo Highlander30

    25 July 2010

    Highlander30 rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Rachel

    27 October 2010

    Rachel commented on this recipe

    The texture was perfect but this cake really doesn't taste of much!

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  • Binder photo scouserjay

    30 November 2010

    scouserjay commented on this recipe

    a really nice chocolate cake approved by whole family. Just 1 thing tho i would sprinkle icing sugar on top next time instead ov cocoa, but otherwise spot on ....

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  • Binder photo simmy

    28 December 2010

    simmy commented on this recipe

    i avnt tried it, but i am on my way to the cake ingredients store... rite away.......

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  • Binder photo caitlin

    17 May 2011

    caitlin commented on this recipe

    must be bad^^^^

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  • Binder photo firdaus

    11 June 2011

    firdaus commented on this recipe

    yumm it looks nice!!!

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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 10.0g, carbohydrate 24.0g, fat 30.0 g, saturated fat 11.0g, fibre 2.0g, sugar 22.0g, salt 0.66 g

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