Chocolate Mousse Cake with coulis and vanilla marscapone

Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake Photo: Alan Gillard Photography

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE 

165g butter, plus a little extra, melted,
to grease tin
300g dark chocolate (minimum
60% cocoa solids)
275g caster sugar
pinch flaky sea salt
5 large free range eggs
1 tbsp ground almonds, plus extra for dusting
icing sugar, for dusting (optional)
Preheat the oven to 150°C.
Brush a 20cm springform cake tin with the extra
melted butter and dust with the ground almonds,
shaking off any excess.
Melt the butter, chocolate, sugar and salt in a
heatproof bowl suspended over a saucepan of
barely simmering water (make sure the bottom
of the bowl does not touch the water), then
remove from the heat.
Whisk the eggs along with the ground almonds
until very well combined. It is important that the
eggs are very well incorporated. Add the warm
chocolate mixture to the egg mixture a little
at a time, whisking constantly so that the eggs
don't scramble. Keep whisking until the mixture
thickens slightly.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for
30-35 minutes, until set around the edges with
the slightest wobble in the centre.
Leave the cake to sit in the tin until cold. Dust
with icing sugar if desired.

 EXTRAS - TO PLATE AND SERVE

RASPBERRY COULIS
MAKES 1 CUP
200g fresh raspberries (or use frozen
and defrosted)
80g icing sugar
Place the berries in the blender with the
icing sugar and blend until you have a smooth
consistency. Pass through a sieve to remove the
seeds and put into a squeezy bottle. Store in the
fridge until needed.

VANILLA MASCARPONE
MAKES 1 CUP
1 cup mascarpone
2-3 tbsp Pedro Ximénez
½ tsp vanilla powder or paste
coconut sugar, to taste
Mix everything together, adding enough coconut
sugar to make it slightly sweet.

PISTACHIO CRUMB 
5 disgestive biscuits
½ cup shelled pistachios
30 g melted butter

Place ingredients into a blender and blitz for a couple of seconds
until you have a coarse crumb