Chocolate Torte Gingernut Base Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3-4. Butter and line a 23cm round springform tin with a disc of buttered baking parchment. Lightly dust the inside of the tin with cocoa and tip out excess.
• Put the chocolate and butter into a medium-size heatproof bowl, add the ginger wine and set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
• Tip both the sugars into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer and add the egg yolks. Whisk until pale and light. Pour the melted chocolate and butter into the yolks and stir until smooth. With another large, spotlessly clean bowl and whisk, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they just hold a stiff peak.
• Sift the almonds and ginger into the chocolate mixture and fold in using a large metal spoon. Add one-third of the egg whites and stir in to loosen the mixture. Fold in the remaining egg whites until combined.
• Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and gently spread level using a palette knife. Gently warm the ginger preserve until it's just spreadable and carefully spoon onto the cake in small dollops. Spoon over the remaining chocolate mixture, spread level and bake just below the middle shelf of the oven for 50 mins-1 hr until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with a moist crumb attached. Allow the cake to cool in the tin and don't be dismayed if the top sinks and cracks.
• To make the ganache icing, tip the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Then add the cream, butter and ginger wine. Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir until melted and velvety smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
• Carefully run a palette knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it, then put on a serving plate. Spread the ganache over the top, and leave to set before serving.

Steps:

• Start by lining an 18cm springform pan with parchment paper.
• Crush the biscuits with a rolling pin or whiz in a food processor until they are turned into crumbs.
• Melt the chocolate for the base along with the butter (you can do this either in a saucepan over a low heat or in the microwave).
• Add the ginger and biscuits.
• Stir to combine and press into the bottom of the lined tin.
• Chill in the fridge while you make the middle part of the torte.
• Put the cream in a saucepan and bring to a boil over a high heat.
• Pull off the stove as soon as it boils and stir in the chocolate until it melts.
• Add the wine and butter.
• Cool to room temperature and pour onto the base.
• Chill until set, about two hours.
• Carefully remove the tin and paper.
• Cut with a hot, dry knife and decorate each slice with a bit of ginger just before serving.

Steps:

• Crush the biscuits by putting them in a large, strong, plastic food bag and bashing with a rolling pin. Melt the butter with the syrup or honey in the microwave, then stir in the biscuits. Press onto the base and up the sides of a 12 x 36cm rectangular tin (or 23-25cm round flan tin) and chill while you make the filling.
• Break up the two chocolate bars and put in a large bowl. Melt in the microwave for 2-3 mins on Medium, stirring halfway through. Stir in the vanilla extract, then sift in the icing sugar. Whip the cream until it just holds its shape, then fold into the melted chocolate. Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Chill for at least 2 hrs or for up to 2 days.
• Just before serving, remove the tart from the tin and slide it onto a flat plate (loosen edges first with the tip of a small pointed knife). You will find it easier to remove the tart if you leave it at room temperature for 30 mins. Put a few tsps of crème fraîche along the centre of the tart (or around the edges if the tart is circular) and top each with a raspberry, then dust lightly with icing sugar. Cut into thin slices and serve with extra raspberries on the side.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter and line the base and sides of a 23cm springform or loose-bottomed cake tin. Put the butter and chocolate into a pan and gently melt together until smooth. Meanwhile, using an electric whisk, beat the eggs and sugar together for 5 mins until billowy and about the thickness of old-fashioned custard.
• Pour the chocolate and butter mix into the whisked egg and sugar, then fold it in very carefully using a large metal spoon. Mix the flour, almonds and ¼ tsp salt together, then fold into the mix until even. Spoon into the tin and bake for 35-40 mins until evenly set with a slight crust all over the top. Leave the cake to cool until warm, then release from the tin. Dust with cocoa, then cut into wedges.

Steps:

• Get your equipment ready (see tips below). Break the chocolate in small pieces into a large heatproof bowl. Spoon in the syrup and pour in about a quarter of the cream. Stand the bowl over (not in) a pan of hot water over the lowest possible heat and leave until the chocolate has melted, about 15-20 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir to combine. Leave until barely warm - dip your little finger in to check.
• Get your cake tin ready. Do this while you are waiting for the chocolate to melt and cool so you're not hanging around. Cut open the plastic folder along the bottom, then cut out a disc to fit in the bottom of the tin and 3 strips to line the sides. (See step 2).
• Pour the rest of the cream into a very large bowl and tip in the coffee and cinnamon. Whip with a balloon whisk until the cream looks like step 3. When you shake the bowl the cream should wobble like a thick milkshake, and when you dribble some cream from the whisk, the trail it leaves in the cream below should disappear in 1-2 seconds.
• Fold the two together. Pour the cooled chocolate into the bowl containing the cream. With the largest metal spoon you've got, fold the cream and chocolate together in a figure-of-eight motion. Don't be nervous - keep going until they are evenly and smoothly mixed and the mixture has a soft, pillowy, downy texture - you will see and feel it thicken as you fold.
• Set the torte. Pour the chocolatey cream into the tin and level the surface with the back of the spoon. Put the tin in the fridge and leave to firm up. This can happen in under an hour, but you may need to leave it longer, depending on the coldness of your fridge (you can leave it overnight if this is more convenient).
• Unmould and serve. Unclip and remove the side of the tin, then remove the pieces of plastic around the sides. Invert a serving plate over the torte and turn the torte upside down on to it. Lift off the tin base and peel away the plastic. Dust all over with cocoa (including the plate if you wish to be fashionable) and serve in thin slices.