Claire's Flourless Chocolate Cake

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C
2. Put the chocolate and butter in a saucepan and melt over a low heat (watch it to ensure the chocolate doesn't burn!) & set aside to cook
3. Cream the egg yolks, vanilla & sugar together in a large bowl until creamy & lighter in colour
4. In a clean, grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites with a handheld electric mixer until stiffly peaking
5. Gently mix the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture and then add the ground almonds (or polenta), sea salt & chilli if you are using
6. Gradually fold the egg whites into the mixture using a metal spoon - as gently as you can so that you don't lose the air in the eggs
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until the cake has risen and a skewer comes out clean.
8. The cake will sink as it cools, so don't worry when that happens.
9. Once cool, decorate however you fancy - a simple sprinkling of cocoa powder or icing sugar will look lovely
10. To create the effect in the picture, create a stencil (in what whatever shape you like) with a sheet of paper. Then liberally dust the entire cake in sifted icing sugar. Then gently place the stencil on top & dust through the cut-out shape with cocoa powder to finish.
11. I love to serve this with creme fraiche & raspberries