Chocolate cake (Frédéric Bau)

The new book by Frédéric Bau, Valrhona's pastry chef, "Simplement chocolat" came out a few weeks ago, so it was time for me to make a first recipe. I chose a super simple and quick recipe, a chocolate cake with a crunchy meringue layer, in short a real delight to taste ;-) It's a cake based on ganache and meringue, without butter, which requires very little equipment (you'll only need an electric mixer).



Prep time : 15 minutes + 30 minutes cooking
For 8 to 10 servings (a 25cm mold, more or less)

Ingredients :

135g of Guanaja chocolate (70% cocoa dark chocolate)
150g liquid cream 35% fat
110g egg whites (about 4 whites)
65g egg yolks (idem)
110g powdered sugar
35g T55 flour
40g hazelnut oil or neutral oil such as grape seed oil
Butter and powdered sugar for the mould

Recipe :

Melt the chocolate on a double boiler.




Heat the cream, then pour it in several times over the melted chocolate, stirring well with a maryse between each addition (always with a movement starting from the centre of the bowl).
Then add the oil, then the egg yolks and 50g of sugar, stirring well.




Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then add gradually the rest of the sugar (60g) until you obtain a smooth, glossy meringue.



Gently fold a third of the meringue into the chocolate mixture, then add the sifted flour.




Finish with the rest of the meringue, always delicately.



Put butter and sugar in the cake pan, then pour the dough into it.



Bake in the preheated oven at 160°C for about 30 minutes (a knife planted in the center of the cake should come out slightly chocolatey).
Leave to cool, then enjoy !