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Ingredients

Method

  • STEP 1

    Get your equipment ready (see tips below). Break the chocolate in small pieces into a large heatproof bowl. Spoon in the syrup and pour in about a quarter of the cream. Stand the bowl over (not in) a pan of hot water over the lowest possible heat and leave until the chocolate has melted, about 15-20 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir to combine. Leave until barely warm – dip your little finger in to check.

  • STEP 2

    Get your cake tin ready. Do this while you are waiting for the chocolate to melt and cool so you’re not hanging around. Cut open the plastic folder along the bottom, then cut out a disc to fit in the bottom of the tin and 3 strips to line the sides. (See step 2).

  • STEP 3

    Pour the rest of the cream into a very large bowl and tip in the coffee and cinnamon. Whip with a balloon whisk until the cream looks like step 3. When you shake the bowl the cream should wobble like a thick milkshake, and when you dribble some cream from the whisk, the trail it leaves in the cream below should disappear in 1-2 seconds.

  • STEP 4

    Fold the two together. Pour the cooled chocolate into the bowl containing the cream. With the largest metal spoon you’ve got, fold the cream and chocolate together in a figure-of-eight motion. Don’t be nervous – keep going until they are evenly and smoothly mixed and the mixture has a soft, pillowy, downy texture – you will see and feel it thicken as you fold.

  • STEP 5

    Set the torte. Pour the chocolatey cream into the tin and level the surface with the back of the spoon. Put the tin in the fridge and leave to firm up. This can happen in under an hour, but you may need to leave it longer, depending on the coldness of your fridge (you can leave it overnight if this is more convenient).

  • STEP 6

    Unmould and serve. Unclip and remove the side of the tin, then remove the pieces of plastic around the sides. Invert a serving plate over the torte and turn the torte upside down on to it. Lift off the tin base and peel away the plastic. Dust all over with cocoa (including the plate if you wish to be fashionable) and serve in thin slices.

RECIPE TIPS
TRY IT WITH NUTS OR ORANGE

For a nutty finish, sprinkle

with 25g/1oz chopped toasted

hazelnuts instead of the cocoa. Or for chocolate orange torte,

omit the coffee and whip the

cream with the cinnamon

and 2 tsp finely grated orange

zest. Decorate with

roughly-chopped chocolate

coated orange peel (try Duchy

Originals).

EQUIPMENT

You'll need a small cake tin with a loose base- an 18cm springform tin (the type with sides that unclip) is ideal- you can use a larger tin but it will make the torte shallower. A tip I’ve picked up from chefs is to line the tin with plastic to get a smooth edge, so you’ll also need an (unused) A4 clear plastic folder. You could use cling film, but take care to get it well into the corners of the tin as the torte will take the exact shape of the cling film, wrinkles and all.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2003

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