CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE

"This chocolate cake is my mother’s recipe, I am proud to say. When she makes it, the cake never survives beyond tea. Everyone has to have a second slice and, in my case, a third. It is one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever eaten. When I recently put this cake on the menu at the restaurant with Bramley apple in it, I was only just able to keep up with production. The beauty of this cake is that you don’t need a cake tin to cook it in, all you need is a frying pan and some baking paper. Quite an unusual way of baking a cake, but the result is fabulous."

Ingredients:
120g Bitter Chocolate (70% Cocoa Solids)
100g Butter
100g Sugar
3 Tablespoons of Self Raising Flour
3 Eggs, Separated

1. Melt the chocolate
Place a saucepan that is half full of water on the stove and bring to a simmer. This will produce steam that we will use for melting the chocolate. Place a heatproof bowl containing the chocolate and the butter on top of the saucepan. Allow the mixture to melt.

2. Separate the eggs
Separate the eggs into yolks and whites by moving the yolk between the two shells, letting the white drop into a bowl.

3. Prepare the frying pan
Lightly butter a medium frying pan and line with a circle of greaseproof paper. This is what we are going to cook the cake in.

4. Add yolks, sugar and flour
Once the chocolate and butter have melted, add the yolks one by one whilst stirring continuously. Then add the sugar a little bit at a time and repeat with the flour.

5. Whip the egg whites
Whip the egg whites until stiff and fold bit by bit into the chocolate mixture. Use a metal spoon, like a serving spoon, to fold in the mixture. This will ensure that you do not knock the air out of the whites. Add to the frying pan.

6. Cook the cake
Cook the cake for 20-25 minutes at 140°C. The cake should be nice and springy in the middle.

7. Serve
Allow the cake to cool and serve with ice-cream, cream, chocolate sauce or just how it is.