No-bake chocolate praline cake

I was fossicking through our ancient removal cartons in search of a computer game for the boys when I made what the Other Half would describe as a momentous discovery.

Buried at the bottom of one of the boxes was a sheaf of chocolate pudding and cake recipes.

The recipes were developed quite a few years ago, with the aid of assorted food editors, cookery writers and researchers, as a way of rewarding teams I led at various times. As most of my teams had a higher proportion of women to men, chocolate treats were always extremely welcome as a way of saying “thanks” when a difficult jobs had been done on time and on budget.

All the recipes had to have a high “bang-for-buck” factor for two reasons: most of the women would say “oh, just a small piece for me” and there had to be enough to go around, especially as word spread beyond my immediate team.

As a result, almost all the recipes are extremely rich, extremely intense and extremely luxurious. They really should be eaten in small amounts.

I’ll put most of them on the blog over the next few days and, as the budget permits, I’ll also post photos of the ones we make in the coming weeks.

The first recipe happens to be the Other Half’s favourite: a no-bake chocolate praline cake.

Ingredients

• 125g caster sugar
• 125g blanched almonds, whole
• 75g amaretti, crushed
• 450g plain chocolate (85% cocoa solids or more), broken into small pieces
• 5tbsp liquid glucose
• 5tbsp good-quality cognac
• 600ml double cream
• 125g glacé cherries, roughly chopped
• Cocoa powder
• 50g plain chocolate, shaved into curls
• 50g white chocolate, shaved into curls

Method

1. Grease a deep, 23cm round cake tin, then line both the base and sides with baking parchment. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. Place the caster sugar in a heavy saucepan and cook over a low heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar begins to melt.
3. Stir in the almonds and continue stirring until the sugar is completely melted. Cook for a further minute or two until the mixture begins to turn golden.
4. Pour the praline onto the baking sheet. Shake the sheet gently to spread the mixture out and leave to cool.
5. Spread the crushed amaretti over the base of the cake tin.
6. Place the praline in a plastic bag, then crush into small pieces with a heavy rolling pin.
7. Place the chocolate, glucose and cognac in a bowl and stand in a pan of simmering water. Stir gently until the chocolate is fully melted, then beat quickly and briefly until the mixture is thoroughly combined.
8. Set the chocolate mixture aside to cool slightly—it should be just warm.
9. Whisk the cream until thickened but stop before peaks form. Fold the cream into the warm chocolate mixture.
10. Fold the crushed praline and glace cherries into the chocolate mixture.
11. Pour the chocolate mixture into the tin, over the crushed amaretti. Level the mixture with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Chill the cake for at least eight hours.
12. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen the cake—between the paper and the tin, not between the cake and the paper. Place a large plate over the tin, invert and turn out the cake. If it sticks, gently tape the bottom and sides of the time until the cake comes free.
13. Place a serving plate on what was the bottom of the cake and turn it over,  then remove the first plate. The amaretti layer should be on the bottom of the cake once more.
14. Lightly dust the cake with cocoa powder, then decorate with the chocolate shavings.

Serve with coffee. And remember, a little goes a long way!