A happy bake, everything turned out just perfect, even though I was experimenting with a new recipe, oven temp (and position), even threw in scoring of the cake for controlled cracking. Like I struck lottery, right?

I use a cooked dough method, with the melted butter ‘cooking’ the flour and the texture is ultra fine and soft. The ingredients include varlhona cocoa powder with golden churn butter and tastes really good when chilled. There’s also no need for any baking powder or cream of tartar.

Don’t overheat the butter when doing the cooked dough. Don’t line or grease any part of a loose bottom cake tin and adjust the temperature accordingly to your oven.

Recipe (7″)

• 75g butter
• 70g cake flour sifted
• 15g cocoa powder sifted with flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 80g milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 egg whites
• 75 g caster sugar (already less sweet, can go up to 90g)
• 6g corn starch

Method

1. Prepare a loose bottom 7″ cake tin with no lining or greasing. Pre-heat oven to 170 deg C.

2. Place butter in pot and heat till small bubbles form at edges (and not throughout). About 1 min. Then off the flames and take pot off the stove.

3. Add in cake flour and stir with handwhisk.

4. Add in cold milk and salt and stir till combine, forming a lumpy paste.

5. Next, add in yolks one by one to obtain a smooth paste. Set aside.

6. In a separate bowl, stir corn flour into caster sugar till evenly mixed.

7. Beat egg whites till foamy. Start to add sugar (with the corn flour) gradually in a few batches and beat till stiff peak.

8. Add 1/3 of meringue to egg yolk mixture to loosen with hand whisk.

9. Add in another 1/3 and switch to spatula to fold gently. Repeat for last 1/3 meringue. Pour batter slowly at a height into cake tin. Tap sharply against counter to release big bubbles.

10. Bake at 170 deg C for 10 – 12 min at the lowest rack of the oven. There is no need for steam or water bath.

11. At about 12 min, take out the cake and quickly make slits on them. Place back into oven at the second lowest rack. Continue baking for another 30 min.

12. Cool inverted before unmoulding from the tin.