Chocolate cake & toffee sauce

Preheat the oven to 160C/ 325F/ Gas 3.

Lightly butter a 25cm spring form cake tin, then line the base with a circle of baking parchment.

Break the chocolate into a bowl and add the butter. Rest over a pan of simmering water, making sure that the bowl does not touch the water. Leave to melt, stirring until it is smooth and glossy, then remove and set aside.

Put the sugar and egg yolks into a large bowl. Whisk together until the mixture becomes pale and thick and leaves a trail on the surface for a few seconds. You can't overwork the yolks and sugar here. Once thoroughly mixed, gently fold into the melted chocolate.

Next, whisk the egg whites into soft peaks - the tips of the peaks should just fold over, not stand upright. Fold the whites into the chocolate mixture very gently. Pour into the tin and bake for approx 45 minutes. It will souffle up during cooking and just crack when it's ready but then collapse once you bring it out of the oven. Don't worry; this is just the way it should be. Once removed from the oven, leave it to cool in the tin.

For the toffee sauce, place the sugar, butter and cream in a medium saucepan over a medium heat and stir until dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer until it thickens to the texture of a thick, sticky custard.

Once the cake is cold, carefully remove it from the tin and peel off the paper. Dust with icing sugar, cut the cake into wedges and serve with the toffee sauce poured over and a dallop of creme fraiche on the side.