No guest will be able to resist this rich, chocolate dessert.
Ingredients
Before you start...
Equipment: 6-8 stainless steel mousse rings. These cakes need to be made at least 4 hours in advance of serving.
For the base:
- 50 g1¾ oz ground almonds
- 50 g1¾ oz caster sugar
- 1 whole egg
- 12 g½ oz melted, unsalted butter
- 15 g½ oz unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 medium egg whites
- 1 tsp caster sugar
For the chocolate truffle:
- 220 g7¾ oz best plain chocolate
- 400 ml14 fl oz whipping cream
- 30 g1 oz icing sugar
To garnish:
- Sugar trellis
Method: How to make Chocolate truffle cake
For the base:
Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6 and line a baking sheet with parchment.
In a large bowl combine the almonds, sugar, egg butter and cocoa powder. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then add the spoonful of sugar.
Use a little of this to slacken the almond mixture then fold in the rest gently, so as not to lose too much air. Spread the mixture on to the prepared baking sheet in a rough circle, about 2cm thick.
Bake for about 10 minutes until it is pale golden brown. Then remove it from the oven and leave it to cool on the parchment until you are ready to use it. It will not be crisp but will be more like a sponge.
When it is cold, use 6-8 stainless steel mousse rings to cut out pieces, and put the steel rings on a flat surface with the sponge pieces at the bottom. If you like, you can brush it with a little rum or Marsala at this point.
For the chocolate truffle:
Melt the chocolate gently in a bowl over simmering water, making sure that it does not get too hot.
Whip the icing sugar with the cream just a little so that it will pour, then whisk in the melted chocolate.
Pour it on top of the mousse ring bases and even up the surface with a spatula before putting it into the fridge for 4 hours, or as long as possible
To serve:
Carefully remove the rings by running a knife around the inside edge. Then garnish the chocolate truffle cakes with sugar trellis.
