Moist Chocolate and Rum Squares

First place the butter, sugar and egg yolks in a bowl and whisk them for about a minute until thoroughly blended.

Then fold in the almonds and grated chocolate. Now, with a clean dry whisk, whisk the egg whites to the soft peak stage – not too stiff – and then carefully fold half into the chocolate mixture, followed by the other half.  You can watch how to whisk egg whites in our Cookery School video on this page.

Spread the mixture in the prepared tin, levelling it with the back of a tablespoon, and bake near the centre of the oven for about 55 minutes to 1 hour or until it feels springy in the centre. Leave the cake to cool in the tin, and then lift the cake out using the liner. Place it on a board, then holding the liner at one end, use a palette knife to slide the cake directly onto the board. Now put the broken-up chocolate in a bowl over a pan of 5cm barely simmering water, without the bowl touching the water.

When it’s melted (5–10 minutes), take it off the heat and stir in the cream and 1 tablespoon of rum. Then let the icing cool and thicken a bit. Sprinkle the surface of the cake with the other tablespoon of rum, and spread with the cooled chocolate icing, using a palette knife. Leave the icing to set before cutting it into squares.

Then store in an airtight tin.

For more chocolate cake recipes click on our Online Cookery School Video on this page