passover week 2019 - chocolate nemesis cake
The recipe for the River Cafe's chocolate nemesis cake has been around for a long time but until now I'd never attempted it. With Passover just around the corner it seemed a perfect time to make this flourless chocolate cake but I won't say making this cake went smoothly.
The recipe I followed recommended allowing the cake to cool whilst still in the water bath. Unfortunately despite my careful wrapping, the springform tin sprang a leak and when I unmoulded the cake I found the base very runny. I re-wrapped the cake tin in plastic wrap, followed by 2 layers of foil which I tied up with string and returned the cake to the oven and baked it for another hour until the base had reset.
The original recipe makes a huge cake so I've scaled the recipe down to make a 17cm cake. The original recipe can be found here. While I made the cake using butter I'm sure you could use a mild flavoured olive oil to make the cake, rendering it gluten free, dairy free and Passover friendly.
Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17cm cake with my revised baking instructions. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.
The Chocolate Nemesis Cake – adapted from the River Cafe
Ingredients
220g dark chocolate 70%, broken into small pieces
100g unsalted butter, softened
3 whole eggs
100g unsalted butter, softened
3 whole eggs
Pinch salt
¾ cup caster sugar
¾ cup caster sugar
¼ cup water
Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease a 17cm cake tin and dust it with cocoa powder tapping out any excess then line the base of the pan with baking paper. If using a spring form pan, wrap plastic wrap around the tin before taking a piece of aluminium foil and wrapping it around the cake tin making sure it goes all the way up to the outer rim. The cake will be baked in a bain marie and the plastic wrap and foil should stop any water leaking into the cake mixture.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler or in the microwave, removing as soon as the butter has melted. Stir until the chocolate has completely melted then set aside. In a small pan heat the remaining sugar with the water and cook gently until the sugar completely dissolves forming a syrup. Pour the hot syrup over the chocolate and butter mixture and stir to combine. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
In a stand mixer, beat the eggs with a ¼ cup caster sugar and a pinch of salt for 10 minutes or until they've quadrupled in volume. Reduce the speed of the mixer and slowly add the warm chocolate and syrup mixture to the eggs and continue to beat gently until combined. The mixture will lose volume. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and rap firmly on the bench top to remove any air bubbles
Cover the top of the cake with a piece of foil. Put a folded tea towel into the bottom of a deep sided oven dish and place the cake on top. This will prevent the cake moving around. Pour hot water into the pan so that it comes halfway up the sides of the pan. Bake for 1¼ hours or until set. Remove the cake from pan of water and let it completely cool (at least 2 hours) before turning out of the tin. Store in the fridge until needed but bring to room temperature before serving.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler or in the microwave, removing as soon as the butter has melted. Stir until the chocolate has completely melted then set aside. In a small pan heat the remaining sugar with the water and cook gently until the sugar completely dissolves forming a syrup. Pour the hot syrup over the chocolate and butter mixture and stir to combine. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
In a stand mixer, beat the eggs with a ¼ cup caster sugar and a pinch of salt for 10 minutes or until they've quadrupled in volume. Reduce the speed of the mixer and slowly add the warm chocolate and syrup mixture to the eggs and continue to beat gently until combined. The mixture will lose volume. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and rap firmly on the bench top to remove any air bubbles
Cover the top of the cake with a piece of foil. Put a folded tea towel into the bottom of a deep sided oven dish and place the cake on top. This will prevent the cake moving around. Pour hot water into the pan so that it comes halfway up the sides of the pan. Bake for 1¼ hours or until set. Remove the cake from pan of water and let it completely cool (at least 2 hours) before turning out of the tin. Store in the fridge until needed but bring to room temperature before serving.
The cake is delicious but really rich so serve small slices with a dollop of cream and a few raspberries. It’s equally good a few days later.
See you all again tomorrow with some more Passover baking.
Bye for now,
Jillian
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