Hazelnut chocolate cake - gâteau au chocolat et aux noisettes 

Inspiration for this cakes comes from a dessert I used to serve when I was a waitress in a fresh pasta restaurant in Paris in the 5th. Their slice of chocolate cake was divine. I lost the recipe but remembered the dense, rich, melt in your mouth texture. I tried to recreate it with the addition of hazelnuts and made it flourless - just adding one optional tablespoon of buckwheat. Picking a really good chocolate is key, I love a 70% bittersweet chocolate block like the one I use in the video from Callebaut. I also love Valrohna.

Serves 8

chocolate - 170g

butter - 170g

together in double boiler

sugar - 140g

eggs - 4 

buckwheat flour - 1 tablespoon (optional)

To decorate the cake:  

blue corn flowers - 20g

red currants - 100g

roasted hazelnuts - 100g

Preheat the oven at 340°F / 160°C. 

Cut the butter in dice and shave the chocolate, put together in a double-boiler (bain-marie in French!) on medium heat - don't let the water boil. Gently mix with a wooden spoon until the chocolate and butter have melted. Set aside. 

With a whisk or hand-held mixer (or a kitchen aid if you are lucky enough to have one), whisk the 4 eggs and the sugar until frothy and smooth. Slowly add the melted butter and chocolate and keep whisking, until the cake batter becomes dark like chocolate. If using, add a tablespoon of buckwheat flour.  If you feel like experimenting you can also try a variation by only whisking the egg yolks with the sugar, and beating the egg whites separately before adding them to the batter at the very end. That way, you obtain a bit of a raised more airy cake, and the crust breaks nicely as it goes down. Transfer onto a cake pan lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven for 15/20 minutes.

While it's baking, roughly chop the hazelnuts and wash the red currants. The cake is ready when it still feels a little wobbly and undercooked inside, as it will keep cooking as it cools. Decorate the cake with the corn flowers, chopped hazelnuts and red currants, serve with a dollop of full-fat yogurt (or if you are in France, fromage blanc).