My most popular chocolate cake

I've been making this cake for well over 45 years. It's rich and satisfying. I prefer to let the cake cool completely before eating it and it's even better the next day. You need a buttered and floured ring cake tin. Serve the cake with cream, ice-cream or a thin custard.

My most popular chocolate cake Credit: Kitti Gould

• serves

  12

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 80 g sultanas
• 2 tbsp Cointreau or brandy
• 270 g good-quality dark cooking chocolate (see Note)
• 4 eggs, separated
• 120 g caster sugar
• 80 g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 120 g walnuts, chopped
• 80 g plain flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting
• a pinch of cream of tartar

Icing

• ½ cup thickened cream
• 150 g good-quality dark chocolate, cut into small pieces (see Note)
• 1 tsp butter
• cream, ice-cream or thin custard, to serve

Resting time: 10 minutes

Cooling time: 45 minutes

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease a 22 cm ring cake tin with butter (savarin mould) and dust with flour.
2. Place the sultanas and Cointreau in a small bowl and microwave for 10 seconds.
3. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it in a large bowl over a saucepan of hot water, or in the microwave. Once melted, remove from heat.
4. In a second bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until fluffy and pale.
5. Incorporate the butter into the melted chocolate mixture (away from the heat).
6. Add the egg yolk mixture to the chocolate butter mixture, then gently mix in the walnuts, sifted flour, sultanas and Cointreau.
7. In a separate large mixing bowl, combine a pinch of cream of tartar with the egg whites. Use an electric hand mixer to whip until stiff. Using a metal spoon, fold the egg whites into the chocolate batter, then pour into the prepared cake tin, smoothing the surface with a spatula. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, the cake must remain quite moist in the centre.
8. Remove the cake from the oven, wait 10 minutes then carefully turn the cake out onto a wire rack. Allow to cool before icing.
9. To make the icing, in a small saucepan, bring the cream to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted and smooth. Stir in the butter. Pour the icing over the cooled cake and spread thinly.

Note

• We used 55% dark chocolate.

Photography by Kitti Gould.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

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