Black forest truffle cake

1 HOUR 10 MINUTES SERVES 10 | EASY | GF

dark chocolate 250g, roughly chopped butter 150g, plus extra for the tin eggs 5, separated caster sugar 150g ground almonds 30g kirsch 1 tbsp

TOPPING double cream 250ml icing sugar 2Ω tbsp kirsch 1Ω tbsp

Opies Black Cherries with Kirsch Ω a jar dark chocolate curls to decorate (see cook’s notes)

• Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Butter and base-line a 23cm round springform cake tin with baking paper.

• Melt together the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over (but not touching) a pan of gently simmering water (or melt in short bursts in the microwave).

• Put the egg yolks and whites in separate bowls. Beat the yolks until light and fluffy. • Cool the chocolate mixture until just-warm then stir in 50g of the sugar. Gradually stir in the egg yolks. Stir in the almonds and kirsch. • Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then whisk in the rest of the sugar, 2 tbsp at a time, until you have stiff, glossy meringue. Add a large spoonful of the egg whites to loosen the chocolate mixture then gently fold in the rest of the meringue, keeping in as much air as possible. • Spoon into the tin and bake for 30-35 minutes, then leave to cool completely in the tin. It will sink and crack a little but you’ll cover this with decoration.

• To finish, whip together the cream, icing sugar and kirsch until soft peaks form. Dollop over the cake, then add cherries and chocolate curls to finish.

COOK’S NOTES

You can buy dark chocolate curls in most supermarkets or make them at home. Melt 100g of chocolate then spread a thin layer over the base of a clean baking tray. Chill until set, then hold a large sharp knife horizontally and draw it towards you to create the curls.

PER SERVING 537 KCALS | FAT 40.5G SATURATES 23.1G | CARBS 33.1G | SUGARS 26.2G FIBRE 2.7G | PROTEIN 6.7G | SALT 0.4G