Steve's website

This is our simple website - running on a beaglebone black, it hosts our favourite recipes and cakes, and things that interest us. There's an area for the kids for when they start to learn computing at school, and a personal blog for us all

Once a year

    Italian chocolate xmas cake

    
    225g 70% or more dark chocolate 
    225g whole skinned hazelnuts
    225g walnut pieces
    5 drops vanilla extract
    65ml brandy
    1 level tsp ground cinnamon
    25g unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
    200g golden caster sugar
    5 large eggs, separated
    1 large orange, zest finely chopped
    a little extra unsalted butter
    2 rounded tbsp fine breadcrumbs for the tin
    
    1 x 20cm (8in) loose-bottomed cake tin
    
    

    Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Begin by buttering the 20cm cake tin generously, then sprinkle the inside with the breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess.

    Put the nuts and the chocolate, broken into small pieces, in a food processor, pulse on and off until the mixture is of a grainy consistency, but not finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the vanilla extract, brandy, cinnamon, butter and sugar, mixing thoroughly. Now add the yolks gradually, mixing them in very well, and, finally, add the orange zest. Whisk the egg whites to the stiff peak stage, but not so they are so thick that they become dry. Gently fold them into the chocolate mixture with a large metal spoon, a few tablespoons at a time, cutting through the mixture with a high movement to incorporate plenty of air.

    Now spoon the mixture into the cake tin and bake in the oven, on the centre shelf, for 60-70 mins; cover the cake loosely with baking parchment for the last 10 mins if it's browning too much. The cake is ready when a cocktail stick inserted in the middle comes out dry. Let it rest in the tin for a coupie of minutes, then turn it out on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.