The Reliable Dense Chocolate Pudding Cake

This morning is a stolen morning. Grandparents have come to the rescue and whisked the boys away to the farm for an hour or two and I sit, in my still house, for a few blissful minutes.

This recipe is something I wanted to share for a few days. I’d say it fits neatly into the bracket of a ‘heritage collection’. I’m sure we have all had or tried something similar before; a dense, heavy, dark chocolate slab that cuts like cold butter. This sort of recipe is noted down on a scrap of paper or forged in memory but quickly forgotten, and often a reliable version can’t be located. Well here it is… a recipe that Higgidy have written for their archive and I cooked and photographed as proof. We sprawled over salted caramel but a dusting of cocoa powder is all that is really necessary.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

PREP TIME – 30 Minutes

COOK TIME – 40 Minutes

SERVES 6-8

INGREDIENTS

200g dark chocolate, broken up

200g unsalted butter, cubed

200g caster sugar

5 free-range eggs, separated into two separate bowls

30g cocoa powder 

INSTRUCTIONS

1.      Preheat oven to 160°C/fan 140°C/gas mark 3, grease a 23cm cake tin and line with parchment. Gently melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl and leave aside to cool.

2.      Whisk 100g of caster sugar in a bowl with the egg yolks until pale and thick. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff, gradually adding the remaining sugar until the mixture is thick and shiny.

3.      Fold the melted chocolate mix into the egg yolks. When fully incorporated, gently fold in the egg white mix. Pour the gloopy chocolate mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes.

4.      Turn the oven off and leave the cake inside to cool for around 10 minutes – the cake will sink and crack slightly.