METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
In a large bowl whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and chocolate spread together, then add the alcohol, egg yolks and ground hazelnuts.
Fold in the melted chocolate mixture, then lighten with a large dollop of your whisked egg white, which you can beat in before carefully folding in the rest, a third at a time.
Pour in a 23cm round greased and lined springform tin. Cook for 40 minutes then let cool on a rack.
Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan, tossing until they have become golden brown on the outside. Then put aside to cool.
In a heavy bottomed saucepan combine the cream, liqueur and chopped chocolate together, and heat gently. Once the chocolate is melted take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches a smooth, thick consistency. You may need to let it cool for while to thicken up if it is still too runny. Turn out the cooled cake carefully, leaving it on the base as it will be too difficult to get such a damp cake off in one piece.
Ice the top of the cake with the chocolate icing and dot thickly with the whole roasted hazelnuts.
Huge thanks to Jade the Chocolate Maker for sharing another gem with us today. You can check out Jade’s work on the Monsieur Truffe website – their entire range is handmade by Jade and her team in Brunswick. You can also follow Jade’s daily chocolate making adventures on Instagram!