CAKE
200g/7oz dark/bittersweet chocolate
150g/⅔ cup butter
150g/¾ cup caster/superfine sugar
5 eggs, separated
75g/¾ cup ground almonds
100g/¾ cup plain/all-purpose flour
JAM
150g/½ cup apricot jam/jelly
2tbsp orange liqueur
ICING
100g/3½oz dark/bittersweet chocolate
150g/¾ cup caster/superfine sugar
80ml/⅓ cup water
EQUIPMENT
20cm/8in loose-bottomed or spring-form cake tin/pan
This cake – the kind that people sit back from with an exhausted look on their face – only makes sense in winter. In Sarah Perry’s gloriously dark Melmoth there is a slice of cake described in such glorious detail that it doesn’t need to be named. This is probably hopelessly inauthentic, but it’s still completely delicious.
Serves 12
1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan/350F/gas 4 and grease and line a cake tin. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
2. Beat the butter and 100g/½ cup of the sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, and then the cooled chocolate. Fold in the almonds and flour.
3. In a spotlessly clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they form very soft peaks. Slowly pour in the remaining 50g/¼ cup of sugar, and beat until stiff peaks form.
4. Stir a third of the egg whites into the batter to loosen, and then gently fold in the rest. Pour into the tin and bake for 55 minutes to an hour, until the cake is well risen, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
5. Cool in the tin for an hour, then remove from the tin and invert it on a cooling rack. Leave to cool completely.
6. Place the rack over a baking sheet. Melt the jam in a saucepan (passing it through a sieve if it has chunks), and add the liqueur. Paint all over the cake using a pastry brush.
7. To make the icing, combine the ingredients in a pan, and bring to a gentle simmer over a low heat. Simmer until it reaches 112C/234F, or soft ball stage, then leave to sit for a minute. Slowly pour the icing over the cake, making sure it drips down the edges. Allow to set, then serve with heaps of softly whipped cream.