Chocolate, Coffee and Whisky Torte

Recipe found on The Cake Hunter

By halving all the the quantities below, this cake can be made in a 6 inch cake pan (still with three layers).

Chocolate Torte with Coffee Whisky Mascarpone

Ingredients:
For the chocolate torte
400g unsalted butter
400g dark chocolate, broken up
2tsp vanilla extract
10 eggs, separated
300g caster sugar
200g ground almonds
100g cocoa powder, sifted
For the coffee whisky mascarpone
2tbsp instant espresso powder
6tbsp whisky or warm water
2tbsp icing sugar, sifted
500g mascarpone
For the truffles
200g dark chocolate, chopped
85ml double cream
1tsp vanilla extract

Method:
1. Pre heat the oven to 180°C/ 350F/Gas 4. Grease a 25cm cake pan.

2. Melt the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir in the vanilla extract.

3. Beat the egg yolks and 100g of caster sugar until pale. Fold in the melted chocolate mixture, ground almonds and cocoa powder.

4. Beat the egg whites until frothy, then gradually incorporate the remaining caster sugar, continuing to whisk until the meringue holds stiff peaks. Fold a third of the meringue into the chocolate mixture, then carefully fold in the rest. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out fairly clean. Leave to cool before slicing into three layers.

5. For the truffles, heat the chocolate, cream and vanilla extract until the chocolate has melted; stir to achieve a smooth consistency. Chill or freeze for at least an hour and a half before rolling into about twelve little balls and then rolling in cocoa powder (reserve some of the ganache for drizzling on top of the cake).

6. For the mascarpone filling, mix together the espresso powder and whisky. Mix into the mascarpone and sugar and use to sandwich the cake layers.

7. Top the torte with the truffles. Heat the remaining ganache until remelted, then use to  drizzle over the torte.