SALVADOR DALI-INSPIRED FLOURLESS CHESTNUT, CHOCOLATE AND RUM CAKE

This gorgeously gooey flourless cake was inspired by ‘Chocolate with Rum’, a recipe in Salvador Dalí’s fantastical cookbook Les Dîners de Gala. There’s nothing surreal about this very rich cake, which makes an excellent and easy dessert.

SERVES PREP COOK

8-10

45 minutes, plus cooling

1 hour 25 minutes 300ml dark rum

150g pitted prunes

200g unsalted butter, roughly chopped, plus extra for greasing

200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped 200g caster sugar

200g chestnut purée 3 large eggs, separated generous pinch of salt cocoa powder, for dusting (optional) crème fraîche, to serve

Place the rum and prunes in a pan, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 160C/ 140C fan/gas 3 and butter and line the base of a 20cm loose-bottomed or springform cake tin with baking paper.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the

HHHwater. Remove the bowl from the pan and set aside to cool a little.

Place the butter, sugar, chestnut purée, egg yolks, salt and the prunes with their rum in a food processor and blitz until smooth and creamy. Add the melted, cooled chocolate and blitz again until completely combined. Scrape into a mixing bowl.

Beat the egg whites in a scrupulously clean bowl with electric beaters or in a stand mixer until stiff but not too firm or dry, or you won’t be able to fold them easily into the chocolate mixture.

Beat one-third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen, then gently

HHHand gradually fold in the rest – don’t be tempted to beat or you will lose the air. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top.

Bake for 1 hour-1 ¼ hours: when done, the cake should be dry and firm on top (but not springy, as it will be mousse-like in the centre) and coming away from the edges of the tin.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes; it will shrink a bit but that is as it should be and will firm up a little as it cools. Release from the tin and sit on a wire rack to cool completely.

Dust with sifted cocoa – this isn’t essential but adds a lovely bitter note – and serve with cold crème fraîche.

YOU FOOD

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