chocolate, prune & armagnac

Soak the prunes in the armagnac overnight.

Butter and line a 20-23cm cake tin with baking paper and set it aside.

Heat the oven to 180C

Put the dark chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and place over a pot of barely simmering water. Make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl or it may burn the chocolate. Stir occasionally to emulsify the butter and chocolate. Once melted, take off the heat to cool slightly but keep away from any draughts.

Separate the egg whites and yolks into two separate bowls and, starting with the yolks, add half of the sugar and whisk to thicken. Fold the thickened yolks into the melted chocolate and set aside. Chop the prunes into eighths and add to the yolks mixture with the salt and ground almonds.

Beat the egg whites with the remaining caster sugar until soft peaks form. Fold into the chocolate mixture just until incorporated. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 30 minutes. The cake will be slightly soft in the middle, but do not over bake it or the gooeyness will be lost.