2 in 1 Valentine’s Cake [gluten free]

Right from the beginning I knew exactly what sort of a cake I wanted to make for the Valentine’s Day: it had to be a combination of chocolate and raspberries, it also had to be rich and heavy from one hand and light and airy from the other. Why such a combination? – Chocolate is supposed to be an aphrodisiac so it is perfect for such an occasion, raspberries are red and this is a colour of love. As far as textures are concerned, I was certain that - as per “the opposites attract” saying – these characteristics will work also for a cake!

I obviously wanted the cake to be of a heart shape but unfortunately the form I used was a bit too shallow (only 3.5cm high) so I was able to use only half of the raspberry mousse. Of course it wasn't wasted as even eaten by itself was delicious J. But I think it would be preferable to use the whole amount on top of the chocolate base, even if you were to make a sacrifice and not have the heart shape. At least this is what I am going to do next time to enjoy this Valentine’s Cake to the fullest.

INGREDIENTS (for 10-12 portions):

Chocolate base:

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces,

2 tbsp rum,

90g butter in a room temperature,

120g sugar,

3 eggs, separated,

a pinch of salt,

50g ground almonds,

35g corn flour (or all purpose flour, if you don’t have to have a gluten-free cake),

Raspberry mousse:

500g raspberries (if frozen than they should be defrosted),

2 tbsp vanilla sugar,

6 sheets of gelatine (or 1 tbsp of gelatine powder),

500g double cream,

80g icing sugar,

extra raspberries for decoration.

METHOD:

1. Put the chocolate and the rum to a bowl that is placed on top of a pan with barely simmering water; stir occasionally and melt.
2. While the chocolate is cooling down, beat with an electric mixer the butter with half of the sugar till it is nice and creamy.
3. Add the egg yolks; beat some more.
4. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees and grease a baking tin. I used a silicon 29cm heart shaped form but it can be replaced by a 20-22cm diameter round tin with a removable bottom. If you are using the round tin, additionally put a disc of baking paper on its bottom.
5. Whisk the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks form; add the rest of sugar and whisk till stiff.
6. Add to the butter mixture the cooled down melted chocolate and the ground almonds, stir well.
7. Now add 1 tbsp of whisked egg whites and 1 tbsp of the flour, stir gently. Repeat till you have used all the flour; at the end add the rest of the whisked egg whites and mix gently again.
8. Pour the batter to the prepared form, put it to the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
9. Put the raspberries to a blender and liquidise them; then press through a fine sieve to eliminate the pits and mix with the vanilla sugar.
10. Prepare the gelatine as per its packet instruction.
11. Whisk the double cream until stiff, slowly add the sugar.
12. Add a few tablespoons of the liquidised raspberries to the pan with dissolved gelatine, stir and then add the rest of the raspberries.
13. Combine the cream with the raspberries.
14. Keep the baked base in the tin and when it is cold, pour the raspberry mousse to the tin, smooth the top and put the cake to the fridge for a few hours, preferably overnight.
15. When set, decorate with raspberries.