Filled Chocolate Cake

Cook Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Servings 1 cake (25 cm springform tin)

Ingredients

Cake

200g 70% dark chocolate, melted

125g butter, soft

150g raw caster sugar

Pinch of salt

4 eggs

200g almond meal

4 tbsp corn flour (48g)

50g 70% dark chocolate, finely chopped

Filling

400ml cream

90g icing sugar

200g soft cream cheese

50g 70% dark chocolate, chopped

1½-2 punnets strawberries, halved

Splash of Grand Marnier (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Melt 200g of 70% dark chocolate using bain marie method with water barely simmering. In a mixer whip the butter, sugar, salt and eggs. Mix in the melted chocolate and with the whisk attachment, combine for 5 minutes until light. Fold in the almond meal and cornflour. Place batter into buttered cake tin.

Bake for approximately 50 - 55 minutes. Allow to fully cool.

To assemble the cake, using a spoon, carefully hollow out about 2 cm deep and to about 2 cm to the edge of the cake. Break up the off cuts and with your fingers crumble to even crumbs. Set aside for later.

Place a part of the halved strawberries into the indent of the cake. Splash with a little Grand Marnier if using.

Dice the remaining Strawberries. Combine the cream, icing sugar and cream cheese and whip until firm. Fold in the chopped chocolate and remaining strawberries.

Top with the chocolate cake crumbs and gently push onto the filling.

Place in the fridge to set for one hour before serving.

Dust the top with little icing sugar.