Chocolate Karma

I’m a firm believer in Karma but who would have thought there was such a thing as Chocolate Karma. I have a Chocolate Cookbook that I love looking at the pictures in. It makes me drool but to be honest I haven’t made that many of the cakes out of it. I did make a Chocolate Tart a while back but that’s it really.

Last year when it was my friend, T’s, birthday I decided to buy the same book for her. She loves chocolate and she’s a great cook so what better present. As a thank you for the book she made one of the cakes in it for my Birthday. She made one of the best chocolate cakes I have EVER tasted. It was like eating slices of Ferro Roche – absolutely delicious. I have wanted to make this cake for ages (since I have the cook book too) but the recipe looked a little too involved. How wrong I was. I made it last night and it was pretty straight forward.

Unfortunately I didn't make this cake for myself. I made it for two of my very good Irish friends, B & C, as an apology. You see, last week I went out with said friends (who are both vegetarians) to a very good Thai restaurant in Balmain called Pomegranate. This restaurant was recommended to me by my dentist. She said when I went there I should definitely order the Banana Leaf Salad. And that’s exactly what I did. Of course I was talking so much I never even checked the menu to see what was in it. I just presumed that because it was a banana leaf salad it would be ok for my friends too. Whadah-mistakah-ta-makah! The girls had both ordered delicious prawn dishes. When their dishes arrived I promptly scooped some of both onto my plate and started eating, thinking we were sharing all three dishes. The prawn curries were excellent with lots of big prawns and a thick creamy sauce. But then my dish arrived covered in big chucks of chicken. Oops. The poor girls couldn’t have any of mine. I felt like such a greedy guts and so to make up for eating most of the food that night I have made them my very favourite Chocolate cake - Gianduja Marjolaine.

Gianduja Marjolaine

220g (1 cup) caster sugar
185g (1 ¼ cups) roasted peeled hazelnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon cornflour
6 egg whites

Gianduja filling
100g (2/3 cup) roasted peeled hazelnuts
50g icing sugar
100g dark couverture chocolate, melted
1 cup pouring cream, whisked until soft peaks form

Ganache
250g dark couverture chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup pouring cream


Combine 55g (¼ cup) of the caster sugar, hazelnuts and cornflour in a food processor and process until finely ground. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until foamy, add a pinch of salt and whisk until soft peaks form, then gradually add remaining sugar and whisk until mixture is thick and glossy. Carefully fold nut mixture into egg white mixture in 2 batches until just combined. Spoon mixture into a baking paper-lined 1.5cm-deep 26x32cm oven tray, smooth top and bake at 180C for 25 minutes or until golden. Stand meringue in tray for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack covered with a piece of baking paper and carefully peel off baking paper lining. Cool.

For gianduja filling, process hazelnuts and icing sugar in a food processor until a smooth, oily paste forms (this will take about 5 minutes and you will need to keep scraping down the side of the bowl). Add melted chocolate and process until combined and mixture is smooth. Transfer gianduja to a bowl, stir in one-third of the whipped cream to loosen, then fold in remaining whipped cream until just combined.

For ganache, process chopped chocolate in a food processor until the size of large breadcrumbs. Bring cream just to the boil in a small saucepan. With food processor running, add hot cream to chocolate and process until mixture is smooth. Transfer to a small bowl and cool at room temperature until thick and of spreading consistency.

Cut hazelnut meringue into 4 widthways. Place a meringue rectangle on a serving plate and spread with one-third gianduja filling, then repeat layering twice more, finishing with a layer of meringue. Spread top and sides of cake with ganache and refrigerate until set.

Cake will keep, refrigerated, in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Serves 8-10