Squidgy Chocolate Torte

Remember all the struggles with metric conversions in baking? Well, no more! Bring on the grams of butter, we're making chocolate cake. A friend convinced me to sign up for a 10k shortly after moving to London, with the intention that signing up for a race would inspire us to run in preparation. It didn't but we still crushed it! It was a challenge for sure but I was proud of us for getting out there and being able to just decide to run a 10k.

The run was through a park that doubled as a deer preserve. People here are very excited to see deer but coming from Pennsylvania, back in the day, deer are no big deal. But this was a legit herd of deer just chilling in the middle of the park and when they started to run, it was almost like a safari.

To balance that out, we made chocolate cake. My friend was hosting a lunch the next day so we were looking for something chocolatey with berries and potentially whipped cream. This was the simpler of the recipes we found so we headed out to Waitrose and picked up our ingredients.

Unlike when I attempted snickerdoodles and divvying up a recipe, we made this cake in harmony. Butter and chocolate are melted together and I must say, one of the most satisfying baking experiences. Eggs and sugar are whisked together (we didn't have an electric mixer) with this nifty whisk. I recently read all about different whisks but this was a new one and quite fun.

Chocolate and butter go into eggs and sugar. Flour is folded in until we get a glossy, shiny batter. The batter is then poured into a torte pan. You could also use a spring-form pan or cake pan in a pinch. This torte will rise a little bit but not as much as a regular cake. It's dense and fudgy. Squidgy, I dare say.

Once cooled, we garnished with cocoa powder, blueberries and mint. Served with whipped cream, I'm sure it was the star of the lunch! I wasn't in attendance but I still enjoyed baking and running, detox to retox, people.

Recipe

• 200g unsalted butter
• 200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), chopped/broken
• 4 large eggs
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 50g plain flour
• 50g ground almonds
• Pinch of salt
• Cocoa powder for dusting
• Berries for decorating

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter or grease your pan liberally.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate. Once smooth, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
3. Mix together the sugar and eggs using an electric mixer or a lot of whisking power. Blend until the mixture thickens, like custard.
4. Slowly pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, stirring to combine.
5. Fold in the flour, almonds and pinch of salt until no white streaks remain.
6. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin.
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the center is cooked through.
8. Allow to cool completely before removing from the tin or decorating. 
9. Serve with whipped cream or plain!