for 16 pieces

Sponge

150 g	dark chocolate (72% cocoa), finely chopped
150 g	butter
100 g	cane sugar
5	egg yolks
5	egg whites
2 pinch	salt
75 g	cane sugar
150 g	shelled ground almonds
150 g	white flour
1 tsp	baking powder

Raspberry ganache

150 g	frozen raspberries, defrosted
2 tbsp	preserving sugar (Coop)
1 ¼ dl	cream
100 g	dark chocolate, finely chopped

Thick icing

100 g	butter
200 g	dark chocolate, finely chopped
100 g	icing sugar

Runny icing

60 g	dark chocolate, finely chopped
½ dl	cream
1 pinch	salt

Decorate

100 g	frozen raspberries
50 g	chocolate shavings

How it's done

Sponge

Melt the chocolate in a thin-sided bowl over the gently boiling bain-marie, ensuring that the bowl does not touch the water. Stir the chocolate until smooth. Beat the butter in a bowl until soft. Add the sugar and mix for a further 2 mins. Add the egg yolks one at a time and continue to mix until the mixture turns paler in colour. Stir in the slightly cooled chocolate. Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff. Add half the sugar and continue beating until the egg whites turn glossy. Add the remainder and briefly continue beating. Stir half of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Mix together the almonds, flour and baking powder and carefully fold in, in layers, with the remainder of the egg whites, then transfer to the prepared tin and level off.

Bake

For approx. 55 mins. in the centre of an oven preheated to 180°C. Remove from the oven, allow to cool a little, remove from the tin, turn out onto a rack and leave to cool. Slice the cake crosswise into four sections.

Raspberry ganache

Cover and simmer the raspberries with the sugar for approx. 5 mins, allow to cool a little, then puree. Heat the cream, remove the pan from the heat. Add the chocolate, melt, and stir until smooth. Stir in the raspberry puree, cover and leave to cool completely. Cover 3 cake bases with the raspberry ganache and precisely lay the bases on top of each other. Lay the fourth base on top, with the baked side facing up, and press down lightly.

Thick icing

Heat the butter in a pan, add the chocolate and melt slowly over a very low heat. Remove the pan from the heat, gradually stir in the icing sugar and stir the icing until smooth. Using a spatula, spread the icing all over the cake.

Runny icing

Heat the cream, remove the pan from the heat. Add the chocolate and salt, melt, and stir until smooth. Pour the icing randomly over the cake, so that it runs over the sides.

Decorate

Top the cake with the raspberries and chocolate shavings. Decorate with birthday candles.

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