PINK PEPPERCORN & CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE

THIS recipe was devised by my friend and collaborator Georgina Fuggle (she has cooked every single recipe in my new book, some of them three times), and it is astonishingly good. I have yet to see someone refuse a second slice. The texture is like a cross between a brownie and a chocolate mousse, and the little kick from the pink peppercorns is surprising and delightful. SERVES 8 ● 75g pecans ● 1 tsp pink peppercorns, plus extra to serve ● 150g salted butter plus extra for greasing ● 250g good-quality dark chocolate ● 150g caster sugar ● 5 large eggs, separated ● 1 tbsp whisky ● Pinch of salt ● Icing sugar, to serve LIGHTLY butter and line a 23 cm (9in) round spring-form cake tin with baking parchment. Heat the oven to 160c/fan 140c/gas 3. Tip the pecans onto a baking tray and transfer to the oven to toast for 6-7 minutes. Blitz to a fine dust in a food processor, then set aside. Crush the peppercorns in a pestle and mortar until fine (failing that, bash them with the end of a rolling pin in a small bowl). Melt the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, or in the microwave. Remove from the heat and mix in 60g of the sugar. Then stir in the egg yolks, pecans, most of the peppercorns and the whisky. In another large bowl, add the salt to the egg whites and use an electric whisk to beat them to soft peaks. Whisk in half the remaining sugar, until the mixture will stand up in peaks when the whisk is lifted, then add the rest of the sugar. Whisk again until stiff and glossy. Stir a spoon of this meringue into the chocolate mixture to loosen it a bit, then carefully fold in the rest (be gentle, you want to avoid bashing out all the air you’ve carefully incorporated). Pour the batter into the tin, level the top and bake for 25 minutes. Leave the cake to cool in the tin, on a wire rack, for ten minutes. It will sink dramatically — but don’t worry. Once cool, remove the cake from the tin and dust with icing sugar and a scrunch of pink peppercorns.

PRUE SAYS: This cake has never lasted a day in my house, but I’m told it freezes well. As it’s quick and easy to make, why not double up the quantities, and freeze one to have later, perhaps to do duty as a pudding with cream?