Chocolate Cloud Cake

Total Time: 55 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 250 g dark chocolate, chopped into button sized pieces
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 6 eggs (2 whole, 4 separated)
• 3/4 cup sugar, plus
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cointreau liqueur (optional)
• grated orange zest (optional)
• 2 cups 35% cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon cointreau liqueur (optional)
• unsweetened cocoa powder, for sprinkling

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350 degrees f. line the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan with parchment paper.
• 2 melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave, then let the butter melt in the warm chocolate.
• 3 beat the two whole eggs and the four egg yolks with 1/3 cup of the sugar, then gently add the chocolate mixture, cointreau and orange zest.
• 4 in another bowl, whisk the four egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the remaining 1/2 cp sugar and whisk until the whites are holding their shape, but not too stiff. lighten the chocolate mixture with a dollop of egg whites, then fold in the rest of the whites.
• 5 pour mixture into the prepare pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake has risen and cracked and the centre is no longer wobbly.
• 6 cool the cake in its pan on a wire rack; the middle will sink as it cools.
• 7 when ready to eat, place the cake on a cake stand and carefully remove it from its springform pan. don't worry about cracks or rough edges; it's the crater look that you want to go for.
• 8 whip the cream until soft, then add vanilla and cointreau and continue whisking until the cream is firm but not stiff.
• 9 fill the crater of the cake with the whipped cream, easing it out gently towards the edges of the cake, and dust the top lightly with cocoa powder pushed through a strainer.