Dark Chocolate and Berry Cakes

Cook Time 45 minutes or 1 hour plus chilling overnight

Servings makes 8 individual cakes or 1 20 cm springform cakes

Ingredients

150g 70% dark chocolate, chopped

100g butter

3 eggs

125g raw caster sugar

2 tbsp blackberry liquor (crème de mûre), or replace with orange juice for an alcohol-free option

100g almond meal

2 tbsp (20g) corn flour

120g blackberries and raspberries mixed (frozen or fresh)

40g 70% dark chocolate, coarsely grated

Extra blackberry liquor (crème de mûre)

Extra chocolate

Berries, to decorate

Method

Gently melt together the chopped chocolate and butter. Take off the heat and stir to cool. Stir in the eggs, sugar and liquor. Mix in the almond meal and corn flour. Stir through the berries. Mix so some stay intact, and others are crushed. Lastly mix in the grated chocolate.

Place batter in the individual silicon moulds and bake in the centre of a 200°C oven for 15-20 minutes, or 35-45 minutes if making one large cake. The cakes must remain moist in the centre. Remove from the oven and baste with extra liquor.

Cool and ideally let sit overnight for the cake to develop. (the cake will absorb some moisture of the berries which results in a deliciously rounded flavour)

Decorate with berries and some chocolate.

Thomas’ Tip:

Any seasonal berries work well in this.

As tempting as it is, cakes like this tend to be even more delicious if you allow it to settle overnight in airtight container, where the cake absorbs the moisture of the berries.