Chocolate truffle cake

This is the third – and last – dessert from the Christmas series. I must confess it’s my favorite...

It was a pretty chocolate-y Christmas, as you can see. :D

Chocolate truffle cake
from Modern Classics Book 2

Cake:
68g all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
75g caster sugar
4 eggs
80g butter, melted

Truffle filling:
450g dark couverture chocolate – I used semisweet Callebaut that’s made in Brazil with Belgian cocoa mass
480ml cream
6 egg yolks
75g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF).
Sift the flour and the cocoa three times and set aside. Place the sugar and eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes or until pale and thick and triple in volume.
Gently fold through the flour and cocoa and then the butter.
Line the base of a 20cm (8in) round springform tin with non-stick baking paper - I don’t have one, so I used a tin with a removable bottom, greased it, lined the base with paper, then greased it again and floured everything, just in case.
Pour the mixture and bake for 25 minutes or until the cake comes away from the side of the tin. Cool in the tin.

While the cake is baking, make the truffle filling:
Place the chocolate and cream in a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth. Place the egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and beat for 6 minutes or until thick and creamy. Fold the chocolate mixture through the egg mixture and beat for 6 minutes or until cold. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To assemble, remove the cake from the tin and cut in half horizontally. Place the bottom layer back in the tin and pour over half of the truffle filling. Place the top layer on the cake and cover with the remaining filling. Refrigerate for 5 hours or until set.

To serve, place a warm tea towel around the tin, which will help ease the cake away from the side. Carefully remove the cake from the tin and use a heated palette knife to smooth the edge – I wasn’t able to do it, but I highly recommend it because the cake would look a lot nicer.

Serves 10-12.

During cooking the cake will shrink away from the side of the tin so that when you pour the truffle filling over the top, it will spread down the side of the cake and create a great smooth and glossy coating. To smooth the edge after removing the cake from the tin, dip a palette knife into hot water, dry it quickly with a tea towel and run the blade around the edge.