Chocolate cake à la Varennes
1 dl espresso-type coffee250 g dark chocolate (70%)
250 g butter
2 dl sugar
4 eggs
Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees. Line a cake tin with a false bottom that is 24 cm in diameter with aluminium foil, butter the surface of the foil and cover with breadcrumbs.
Heat the coffee in a water bath and crumble the chocolate into it. Mix until all of the chocolate has melted. Ensure that the coffee does not boil as the chocolate melts and that no hot water gets into the mixture. Mix the sugar and butter a little at a time into the chocolate mixture. Mix well and allow it to melt before adding the next amount. Lift the dish out of the water bath.
Beat the eggs into the mixture one at a time. Pour the mixture into the dish and bake the cake for an hour in the middle of the oven. The cake will rise considerably and then flatten, which is the point. The surface of the cake will then have a beautiful pattern that looks like hairline cracks. Allow the cake to cool and remove it from the tin. Transfer the cake to a serving stand and powder it lightly with icing sugar. Serve with lightly whipped cream flavoured with orange liqueur.