Rococoa cake

This indulgent chocolate cake is inspired by the classic Italian tiramisu. It has layers of soft chocolate sponge soaked in a rich coffee and rum syrup, a light and creamy mascarpone filling, and a smooth chocolate glaze to finish. It’s rich, decadent and full of flavour, with just the right amount of a boozy kick. A little touch of elegance for a special occasion – you might even want to dress up for it! 😉

Important: This cake must be refrigerated overnight with the cream filling before serving.

Ingredients for the chocolate sponge:

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Place the egg yolks and half of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until very pale, thick and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites. Once they become slightly foamy, add the salt and continue whisking until stiff peaks form. Gradually add the remaining sugar, one tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously until you have a stiff, glossy meringue. Add the beaten egg yolks to the meringue and gently fold together with a spatula until combined. Sift the plain flour, potato starch and cocoa powder directly into the mixture. Fold very gently until you have a smooth batter with a light, mousse-like consistency.

Line the base of a 23 cm springform tin with baking paper. Carefully transfer the batter to the tin and level the surface.

Bake at 170°C for approximately 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

Once cooled, slice horizontally into 3 layers.

Ingredients for the coffee syrup:

Place the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Stir, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, add the coffee and rum, and stir to combine. Leave to cool.

Ingredients for the tiramisu-style cream:

Place a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Add the egg yolks, sugar and rum. Using a hand mixer, whisk until the mixture becomes noticeably thicker and increases in volume (it will initially be very runny, almost like water; this took me approximately 15 minutes). Remove the bowl from the heat and continue whisking for another 2 minutes, allowing the mixture to cool slightly. Leave to cool completely.

Briefly beat the mascarpone in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth. Add the cooled egg yolk mixture (zabaglione) and beat until smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl, whip the double cream until stiff peaks form, then gently fold it into the mascarpone mixture using a spatula.

Ingredients for the chocolate glaze:

Place the sugar, golden syrup, rum and coffee in a small saucepan. Stir, bring to the boil and remove from the heat. Add the chopped chocolate and leave for 2 minutes. Then whisk until you have a smooth, glossy chocolate glaze.

To assemble:

Prepare the same tin you used to bake the sponge and line it with baking paper (this is optional).

Place the first sponge layer in the tin and drizzle with one-third of the coffee syrup. Spread over half of the tiramisu-style cream and cover with the second sponge layer. Drizzle with half of the remaining syrup, spread over the rest of the cream and smooth the surface. Place the final sponge layer on top and drizzle with the remaining syrup. Cover the tin with cling film and refrigerate overnight (for at least 12 hours).

The following day, carefully remove the cake from the tin, but leave it on the base of the springform tin. The cake is delicate and very moist, so attempting to transfer it to a serving plate could end in disaster! Pour the chocolate glaze over the top, allowing a little to drip down the sides. Decorate as desired (the original recipe suggests chopped pistachios).

Store the Rococoa cake in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

 

Recipe source: ‘Feast’ Nigella Lawson.