Chocolate Cakes

If I had to choose one kind of cake above all others, it would certainly be a chocolate one, and there are clearly many others who share my passion. Because chocolate has real body, it is possible to make a chocolate cake with no support from flour at all – the cake will be soft, delicate and moist, ideal for a pudding. But there are many other kinds of chocolate cake, from the lightest whisked sponge flavoured with cocoa to the irresistible dense Sachertorte. Good-quality melted chocolate with a cocoa solids con tent of not less than 50 per cent, combined with a little powdered cocoa, makes the most chocolaty cakes of all. You can also add a little strong coffee to intensify the taste, and dark brown muscavado sugar instead of white.