Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 190 °C (conventional). Grease a 20 cm round tin, line the base with baking paper and grease the paper as well.
- Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. The bowl must not touch the water.
- Take the bowl off the pan and stir in the sugar, then add the eggs and mix until no streaks remain.
- Sift the cocoa and salt over the mixture and fold in only until combined.
- Pour the batter into the tin and bake for about 25 minutes, until a thin crust has formed on top.
- Let the cake cool in the tin on a wire rack for 5 minutes, turn out onto a plate and peel off the baking paper. Dust with cocoa and serve with sorbet if you like. Once cooled, the cake keeps in an airtight container for up to a week.
Drink with it
Fortified wine · excellent match
Ruby or tawny port, lightly chilled, or Pedro Ximénez
The sweetness of the fortified wine keeps pace with the cake, and raisin and plum fruit wrap around the bitter cocoa.
Port wine: understanding Ruby, Tawny, and VintageSherry-cask whisky · excellent match
Sherry-cask whisky, neat or with a few drops of water
Bitter cocoa and butterfat meet dried fruit, nuts and spice from the sherry cask, and the dense cake absorbs the alcohol.
What Does the Cask Do to Whisky?Cognac and brandy · excellent match
VSOP or XO Cognac, neat at room temperature
The vanilla, prune and oak spice of the Cognac suit the dark chocolate, and its warmth lifts the butterfat from the palate.
Cognac and Armagnac: Two Origins for BrandyDark beer · excellent match
Imperial stout, barely chilled
Roasted malt and the coffee and cocoa notes of the stout hit the cocoa head-on, and the carbonation loosens the dense cake.
Which beer goes with food? More than just pils with barbecue