Chocolate glazed cakes

Method

Chocolate Financier

1. Take a 9×13” baking tray, and lightly grease the bottom, lining it with a sheet of parchment paper. Pre-heat the oven to 175C/345F Non-fan assisted. 

2. Into a small bowl, add the chocolate and butter and place this over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir until it has completely melted and then set it to one side to cool slightly.

3. Into a medium bowl, add the icing sugar, ground almonds, salt, flour, and baking powder. Whisk these together until they are combined.

4. Pour in the egg whites and whisk again until smooth.

5. Pour in the cream and whisk until smooth.

6. Finally, slowly pour in the chocolate mixture while whisking, until you have a thick chocolate batter. 

7. Pour the batter into the lined tray and use an offset spatula to spread it out evenly.

8. Bake for 20 minutes in the oven and then remove and allow to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, before refrigerating for 2-3 hours – chilling it will make it easier to cut without falling apart! 

Raspberry Compote

1. If you don’t have raspberry puree, you can simply blend 180g of fresh raspberries and use that.

2. Pour the raspberry puree into a medium saucepan and place it on a medium low heat.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the sugar and pectin. 

4. Once the puree is steaming, whisk in the pectin sugar mixture and keep cooking until it reaches a boil. 

5. Remove it from the heat, and whisk in the lemon juice.

6. Pour the mixture into a bowl and cover the surface directly with clingfilm. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. 

Assembly Part 1

1. Once the financier has chilled, use a 6.3”x1.7” (16×4.5cm) ring mold to cut two discs. If you don’t have enough space to cut two full discs, you can cut a second disc, and then cut some scraps and press the cake together slightly. Don’t worry too much if you don’t have a ring mold this exact size, you just want something smaller than the ‘main’ 7” ring mold that we are using later. This is the insert layer that gets sandwiched in between the chocolate mousse.

Note – we will need the spare financier scraps later to decorate the cake so set them to one side. When you have a moment, very briefly blend them to a crumb, then get them onto a tray and into the freezer to use later. 

2. Lift one of the discs into the bottom of the 6.3” ring mold, which is on a tray lined with a silicon baking mat. 

3, Remove the raspberry puree from the fridge and stir it to loosen it.

4. Pour this into the ring mold and spread it to the edges so that you have an even layer.

5. Place the second chocolate sponge on top and gently sandwich it together. 

6. Place the ring into the freezer for 2-3 hours or until frozen.

Chocolate Mousse

1. The key to this mousse is ensuring that the temperatures are correct otherwise, it could split or go grainy. 

2. Into a medium bowl, add the chocolate and place this over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir this until melted, then turn off the heat, but keep it on the water so it stays warm & fluid.

3. Then, add the whole eggs, egg yolks and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. 

4. Place the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water and whisk by hand until it reaches around 60C/140F on a digital thermometer. 

5. Immediately remove the bowl from the heat, place it onto a stand mixer and whisk on a medium speed.

6. Meanwhile, add the cream (a) into a small saucepan and place it over a medium heat, stirring until it is steaming. 

7. Remove the cream from the heat and pour it over your melted chocolate, then use a hand blender to emulsify them together. 

8. At this point we need to check the temperatures of both ingredients. The chocolate/cream needs to be between 40-50C (104-122F) and the egg yolk mixture needs to be between 20-25C (68-77F) when we combine them. This will ensure they combine properly.

9. If you find one is colder than the other, just gently stir it over a pan of very gently simmering water.

10. Once both components are at temperature, gently fold the egg yolk mixture (which will have thickened) into the chocolate in three parts until smooth. Set this bowl to one side.

11. Into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the remaining cream (b). Whisk this until it forms medium soft peaks, do not overwhip it.

12. Take the soft cream and fold it into the chocolate base in three parts until you have a smooth mousse.

13. Take a 7” ring mold and tightly wrap the bottom with clingfilm (you can line it with acetate if you want – this will just make it slightly easier to demold). Place it onto a tray lined with a baking mat.

14. Scoop a small portion of the chocolate mousse into the ring mold, then remove the raspberry/chocolate insert from the freezer. Pop it out of the ring mold and press it into the chocolate mousse.

15. Top up the rest of the ring mold with the chocolate mousse, using a palette knife to completely smooth the top. You may have a little extra chocolate mousse – get this into some ramekins and chill it to have a nice dessert later!

16. Place the entire dessert into the freezer for a minimum of 6 hours, until frozen solid.

Chocolate Glaze

1. Once the glaze is ready we are going to pour it immediately over the cake so be prepared with the frozen cake nearby and a rack ready to pour it on. It can help to demold the mousse from the ring mold, then place it back in the freezer so when you are ready to glaze you don’t need to faff around getting it out of the mold. 

2. Into a tall jug, add the chopped chocolate.

3. Add the cream into a small saucepan, and gently stir it until it is steaming. 

4. Immediately remove it from the heat and pour it over the chopped chocolate.

5. Let it sit for a minute, then use a hand blender to blend it until smooth. Really try to avoid adding any air bubbles here.

6. Add in the soft butter and raspberry liqueur (optional) and blend again until smooth.

7. Remove the frozen mousse from the freezer and place it onto a glass, with a tray and wire rack underneath.

8. Pour the glaze evenly over the entire cake.

9. The glaze will set quickly, so once it has stopped dripping, use a knife to just trim away the drips.

10. Remove the blended-up crumbs from the freezer and press these into the bottom of the cake.

11. Then carefully lift it onto your serving plate. You might damage it slightly lifting it up/moving it, so just patch up any bits with more blended crumb!

12. Let it defrost for 2 hours at room temperature, then serve.