Gooey chocolate cake
See this recipe step by step

Gooey chocolate cake

Gordon Ramsay serves up a rich and sumptuous, but not heavy, chocolate cake. See how to make it step by step.

Difficulty and servings

For the keen cook

Makes 1 x 24cm cake

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Takes about 2 hours - worth every minute

Method

  1. Grease and bottom line a 24cm spring form cake tin. Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas. Melt 120g chocolate in a bowl. Cool for 5 mins, then beat in egg yolks. In a bowl, beat the butter and 100g sugar until soft and creamy. Mix in the melted chocolate and yolks.
  2. Whisk the egg whites to firm peaks then beat in remaining 120g sugar in three batches and continue whisking until stiff. Beat a third of the meringue into the chocolate mix. Then, gently fold in alternate spoonfuls of the flour and remaining meringue.
  3. Spoon into the tin, level and bake 40-45 mins until the top forms a light crust. Test the centre with a metal skewer, it should come out clean. Remove, cool 10 mins, before turning out of the tin. When cooled, cut in half carefully as it is fragile, with a large serrated knife.
  4. To make the filling: in a bowl beat the double cream until thickened, but not stiff. Then mix in the crème fraîche and the zest.
  5. Spread one half of the cake with all the zesty cream and sandwich together with the other half. Place on a rack with a large plate beneath.
  6. To make the ganache icing: break up the chocolate into a pan and add the double cream. Melt over the lowest heat and stir until smooth, then cool until the consistency of thick pouring cream. Pour over the cake.
  7. Let excess icing run onto the plate and spoon it back over to fill any gaps. Spread the icing evenly on the top and around the sides using the back of a spoon or a palette knife. While the icing sets sprinkle the grated chocolate on top and around the sides.
  8. Make the curls: You will need a large block of chocolate. Ensure the chocolate is at warm room temperature and placed on a worktop. Gordon used a sharp knife to make the curls, but it's easier to draw a swivel vegetable peeler down the side of a thick block of chocolate.
  9. Place a large ring cutter (about 10cm) in the centre of the cake and fill with the chocolate curls. Carefully remove the ring and let the curls cascade gently out. Serve at room temperature. If chilled ahead the cake should be allowed to come to room temperature before serving.
Try

To melt chocolate easily

Break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of gently simmering water, stirring until smooth. Do not overheat. Alternatively, break the chocolate into a microwave-proof bowl and heat in the microwave for 2-3 mins on Medium, stirring every so often until smooth.

Serving suggestion

If you prefer not to split and fill the cake, serve the zesty cream separately.

662 kcalories, protein 8g, carbohydrate 58g, fat 46 g, saturated fat 26g, fibre 2g, sugar 45.5g, salt 0.54 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2006.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo mother*ship

    31 October 2007

    mother*ship commented on this recipe

    I made this for my Mum's birthday and was somewhat flummoxed by the cooking temperature; it doesn't actually give a GM but 140�C is GM1, I thought this sounded a little odd but gave it a go. It was still completely liquid after 45mins so I turned the oven temp up and cooked it longer and it was fine but I'm sure that this must be a miss-print. Incidentally my kids and hubby didn't like the cr�me fra�che or lime but that was fine - all the more for my Mum and I!

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  • Binder photo wild_ice

    22 February 2008

    wild_ice rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    I had problems with the filling, it just didn't taste right in the cake - so I filled it with a light chocolate mouse and it tasted ace. Looks beautiful, but is fiddly - especially when cooking with an aga.

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  • Binder photo Rosie

    03 April 2008

    Rosie commented on this recipe

    That's a lot of cream! Perhaps the chocolate mousse mentioned above???

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  • Binder photo carrieanne85

    06 April 2008

    carrieanne85 commented on this recipe

    I copied this from Radio Times and it's gas mark 3, but the first attempt was not quite done at 40 minutes- I finished it off in the microwave to be honest- the second one I left in 50-55 minutes and this was perfect. Far too much filling, even if you attempt to cram it all in it seeps out the sides. I would say half is probably fine, maybe a bit more but it's just impossible to get all of it in the cake and I binned a lot of it. As I say I made two; one looked like the picture, the other I decorated with white chocolate for a different look, but in both versions the cake turns out very picturesque and it went down very well with everyone that ate it. Don't eat too much though- it is very, very filling and I worked out all the calories and it's about 560 cal per 1/12 cake. No good at all for dieters.

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  • Binder photo carrieanne85

    06 April 2008

    carrieanne85 rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo JFDB14

    12 April 2008

    JFDB14 commented on this recipe

    hard work !

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  • Binder photo Katherine

    10 July 2008

    Katherine commented on this recipe

    It's Gas 3; you should use the 160C figure to convert from Celcius to Gas Mark. The 140C figure is for fan ovens which always have to be a bit cooler or things burn.

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  • Binder photo Heather

    01 August 2008

    Heather rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Xisca

    23 October 2008

    Xisca rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    Too sweet for my spanish taste.

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  • Binder photo Imanuelle

    22 November 2008

    Imanuelle commented on this recipe

    Thank, Thank, Thank you Gordon Ramsay. Yet again a wonderfull cake. I used 160C/fan and 2 lime and 1 lemon zest. The combination of this cream and the dark chocolate was wonderfull. My gusts loved this cake.

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  • Binder photo Katie

    21 January 2009

    Katie commented on this recipe

    I loved making this cake and thought the cream/creme fraiche with the lime zest was a refreshing change to a mouse type filling. Takes a little bit more effort than the average chocolate cake, but the results are fantasic and taste delicious - thanks Gordon!! x

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  • Binder photo TheEdda

    08 March 2009

    TheEdda rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I needed to cook the cake for an extra 10 minutes or so, but otherwise, the instructions are faultless. Cutting the cake in half is extremely tricky; I tipped the top half onto a second plate as it would have been impossible to lift it up without it breaking. The filling is delectable :)

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  • Binder photo amdoo

    20 March 2009

    amdoo commented on this recipe

    eww .. gordon ramsay has lost his charm

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  • Binder photo Saffy

    06 August 2009

    Saffy commented on this recipe

    Its just like one I used to make in the 60's!!

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  • Binder photo Ting Chan

    29 August 2009

    Ting Chan rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    A really rich and decadent chocolate cake, definitely worth the wait.

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  • Binder photo Megan L

    13 January 2010

    Megan L rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo ramona

    01 February 2010

    ramona rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Gus

    20 February 2010

    Gus rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo smarsh336

    01 March 2010

    smarsh336 rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo leonie

    23 July 2010

    leonie commented on this recipe

    Looked amazing & was really tasty but overly complicated for the end result - a normal chocolate cake recipe using sour cream gives just as good sponge in half the time. Also would leave the lemon out of the filling - just didn't work sorry Gordon.

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Difficulty and servings

For the keen cook

Makes 1 x 24cm cake

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Takes about 2 hours - worth every minute

Indulgent and impressive

Ingredients

  • 120g dark chocolate , 70% cocoa solids
  • 5 eggs , separated
  • 200g butter , softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 220g caster sugar
  • 90g plain flour , sifted, plus extra for dusting

FOR THE FILLING

  • 284ml pot double cream
  • 200g pot half-fat crème fraîche
  • 2 limes or 1 lemon, grated zest only

FOR THE GANACHE ICING

  • 150g dark chocolate
  • 142ml pot double cream
  • 25g grated chocolate , to serve
  • about 100g chocolate shaved into curls, to serve
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662 kcalories, protein 8g, carbohydrate 58g, fat 46 g, saturated fat 26g, fibre 2g, sugar 45.5g, salt 0.54 g

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