Handsindough: Fudgy nut cake

Versión Española

I must admit that this cake requires a bit of skill (or at least, patience), basically in the process of beating the eggs. So it is not recommended for those of you who are starting in the world of the kitchen or for those without patience, as it takes some time to prepare the dough (it took me about an hour since I started until I put the cake in the oven).

I am quite critical with the things I bake but this is an exception: this cake is UNBELIEVABLE! Really, I could eat the whole cake by myself! It's one of the best entries of this blog (of course, for chocolate-lovers!).

Before we start:

Difficulty: medium
Preparation time: 45 min + cooling time
Cooking time: 35 min
Cost: cheap
Origin: International
Recipe obtained from: Baking bible

Ingredients (makes 12 small portions):

350g plain chocolate, chopped
175g butter, diced
55g cocoa powder, sifted (plus extra for dusting, if desired)
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
210g golden caster sugar
100g mixed nuts, roughly chopped (macadamias, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts...)
Icing sugar, for dusting

Preparation:

Melt the chocolate and the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of streaming water (not boiling), stirring frequently. Remove the bowl from heat, stir in the cocoa powder and let cool.
Meanwhile, put the eggs, vanilla essence and sugar in large heatproof bowl and whisk briefly until frothy. Set the bowl over a pan of streaming water (the water should not touch the base of the bowl). Using an electric whisker, whisk the mixture until it is very pale and thick (when the whisk is lifted, it should leave a visible ribbon-like trail).
Remove the bowl from the heat, and whisk for a couple of minutes so the mixture cools.
Using a large metal spoon, carefully fold in the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by nuts, until thoroughly combined.
Spoon the mixture into prepared springform of 22 cm diameter, covered with baking parchment or greased. Smooth the surface.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180ºC for about 35 minutes or until firm to the touch but moist inside. Do not overcook or the cake will be dry and hard to slice.
Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan.
Unclip the pan, turn out the cake and serve, dusted with icing sugar and cocoa.

Comments:

Original recipe is made with 250g sugar. After having tested some of the recipes of the book used, I've come to the conclusion that they tend to make things too sweet (at least, for me) so I always reduce the amount of sugar.

To beat the eggs, I've used a medium-size pan and a big bowl, so that the bowl can be held by the pan's border without touching the water. I suspended the bowl over the pan (to allow steam leave the pan), but sometimes I could rest my arms resting the bowl on the pan. It takes some time to achieve the required texture. Final dough should double the volume of initial dough.