Maria Dernikos

Sometimes a simple sponge cake is just not enough.  Not grown up enough.  A good old Victoria sponge doesn’t quite go with an espresso but this is a cake that does.  Its rich, moist, decadent and indulgent, and if that’s not enough it’s flourless.

Everytime I make this cake I just can’t quite believe that it will work.  A cake without flour seems odd.  It never to let me down.  Once it goes into the oven that’s about it, there is no filling, nothing more to add save a dusting of icing sugar and its ready to serve.

When I first started making a version of this recipe years ago I kept thinking I was not getting the recipe right or rather there was a flaw in the recipe because each time I removed the cake from the oven the top was cracked and the middle gooey.  I came to realise that either it was a happy mistake or it was meant to be like that.

This has to be my favourite of chocolate cake recipes.  It is pure chocolate cake heaven.    Can be served on its own with a dusting of icing sugar over the top, or as we like it, with a large spoon of clotted cream.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

200gms Dark Chocolate

100gms/3 ½ oz butter cut into small cubes

4 large eggs

185gms/ 6 ½ oz icing sugar

19 cm non stick cake tin

Method

Put the oven on to Gas Mark 4/180C/350F.

Break the chocolate into a bowl.  Add to this the butter.  Place the bowl over a saucepan of hot water without the bottom of the bowl touching the water.  Leave this on a low heat, making sure the chocolate melts gently.  As soon as the chocolate and butter have completely melted remove from the heat.

Separate the eggs.  Set aside the whites.

Whisk the egg yolks and all the icing sugar until pale and creamy.

Fold the melted chocolate and butter into the egg and icing sugar mixture.

Now whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form and then gently fold them into the chocolate mixture, making sure you have completely combined the whites with the chocolate mixture.

Carefully pour mixture into cake tin and place in the oven for 30 minutes.  All ovens are different, I tend to allow an extra 5 minutes if using my old gas cooker.

When cooked the cake will have a cracked top and be still gooey in the middle.  Dust with icing sugar and serve.