 | | Filling
2 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
1 cup cream
250g 62% chocolate, roughly chopped into small pieces
Cake
1 teaspoon butter, for greasing pans
4 eggs
½ cup caster sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
¼ cup flour, sifted twice
3 tablespoons cocoa, sifted twice
75g butter, melted, extra
silver balls or heart-shaped sprinkles to decorate
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line the bases of 4 x 10cm heart-shaped baking pans or a 20cm round baking pan with baking paper. Grease the sides with the butter. Set aside.
- To make the filling, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a small bowl. Pour the cream into a medium-sized saucepan and gently bring it to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Add the chocolate and the egg yolk mixture. Stir until it has combined and the chocolate has melted. Pour the filling into a bowl and refrigerate for about 30 minutes, or until it is thick but still spreadable. This amount will cover and fill the 4 heart-shaped cakes or one large cake.
- To make the cake, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence until they have doubled in volume and are thick and pale. This will take about 5 minutes.
- Fold in the flour, cocoa and butter and pour the mixture into the baking dishes.
- Bake for about 20 minutes for the smaller baking pans, and longer for the larger baking pan. The cake mixture will shrink away from the sides of the pans and may sink in the middle. Leave the cakes to cool in the pans.
- To assemble, gently remove the cakes from the pans. Using a sharp knife, cut the cakes in half horizontally.
- Place one layer of the cake on the serving plate. (If the top of your cake has sunk, place that layer on the bottom.) Spread the cake with a large dollop of the filling. Place the other layer on top and cover it with the filling. Sprinkle with silver balls or edible heart-shaped sprinkles.
TIP
You can make this the day before and store it in a cool place. If you are keeping it refrigerated, allow time for it to return to room temperature before serving.
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