This cake comes with a warning, once you have experience it there is no other chocolate cake quite like it. It is a combination of fluffy ‘moussey’ souffle with a crispy, intentionally collapsed centre. This centre is filled with slightly sweetened cold cream that is the perfect partner to this flourless cake.                    

  INGREDIENTS

  Cake

225g x best-quality dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

110g x unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes

6 x large eggs

200g x castor sugar

2 x tablespoons Cointreau

Finely grated zest of 1 orange about 1 tablespoon

  Whipped Cream

1½ heavy cream, very cold

3 x tablespoons icing sugar

1 x teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C with a rack set in the centre. Line the bottom of a 20cm springform pan with parchment paper. Do not butter the pan and parchment.
2. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over but not touching gently simmering water in a saucepan. Stir it occasionally. When it’s melted, remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the butter cubes until smooth.
3. Separate 4 of the eggs. In a large bowl, whisk 2 whole eggs and the 4 egg yolks with 100g of the sugar just until combined. Slowly whisk in the warm chocolate mixture. Whisk in the Cointreau and the orange zest.
4. Using a handheld mixer in a separate bowl, beat the 4 egg whites until foamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the remaining 100g sugar and beat until beautifully glossy, soft peaks form that hold their shape but aren’t quite stiff, about 5 minutes more. Very gently fold about a quarter of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then gently fold in the remaining whites. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
5. Set the pan on a baking tray and bake until the top is puffed and cracked and the centre is no longer wobbly, 40 to 45 minutes. Be careful not to bake the cake beyond this point.
6. Let the cake cool in the pan. The centre of the cake will sink as it cools, forming  crater, this is what we are after! Let the cake cool completely on a rack.
7. Remove the cake from the tin.
8. Whip the cream, icing sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until billowy, forming soft peaks.
9. Using a spatula, fill the ‘crater’ of the cake with the whipped cream, swirling the cream to the edges of the crater. Garnish with orange zest and chocolate shavings.