Adele's chocolate cake

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 5 eggs
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 3 tablespoons cherry jam
• 1 rum essence (5 ml)
• 1 sachet baking powder (10 g)
• 2-3 tablespoons ground walnuts or hazelnuts (optional)

For the chocolate cream

• 500 ml milk
• 100 g chocolate
• 80 g cocoa
• 100 g sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons starch

For the syrup

• 150 ml water
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 1 rum essence (5 ml)

For decorating

• 500 ml whipping cream
• 150 g chocolate
• 10-12 mini choux puffs
• 100 g white chocolate flakes

Preparation

1. Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside, then beat the yolks with the sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the cherry jam and rum essence. 2. Fold in the flour, cocoa and baking powder. If you like, add the ground walnuts or hazelnuts. Add the egg whites to the mixture and gently fold with a spoon, from the bottom up, until no streaks of egg white remain. 3. Pour the batter into a round pan and bake at 180°C for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through in the middle. Leave the sponge to cool. 4. For the cream, set aside 2 tablespoons of the milk and put the rest in a saucepan with the chocolate broken into pieces. In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa, sugar and starch with the 2 tablespoons of cold milk until you have a smooth paste. 5. Once the chocolate has melted, take the pan off the heat and pour in the starch mixture, whisking continuously. Return the pan to the heat and cook for 8 minutes, stirring until the cream thickens. Leave it to cool. 6. For the syrup, put the water and sugar in a small saucepan. When it starts to boil, add the rum essence and boil for another 2 minutes, then leave the syrup to cool. 7. Melt the chocolate for decorating with 150 ml of the whipping cream for 3 minutes, stirring until the ganache is glossy. Dip the tops of the choux puffs in the chocolate, sprinkle with the white flakes and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Whip the remaining 350 ml of cream. 8. Cut the sponge in half. Place the first half on a serving plate and soak it well with syrup, then spread over the cream and place the second half of the sponge on top; soak that as well. 9. Cover the cake with a thin layer of whipped cream and chill for 30 minutes. Pour the ganache into the middle, arrange the choux puffs on top and decorate the edge with the remaining whipped cream. Refrigerate the cake for at least 5 hours before serving.