Mini Chocolate Gateaux - cooking recipe

Ingredients

butter, for greasing
3 eggs, separated
100 g caster sugar
75 g self-raising flour
50 g cocoa powder
175 ml light double cream
3 tablespoons icing sugar
20 g dark chocolate, grated

Preparation

Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180C, fan 160°C Grease and line a 20cm round tin. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gradually beat in 50g sugar until glossy.
In a separate bowl, beat the yolks with the remaining sugar until thick and creamy. Sift in the flour and 25g cocoa powder, add the egg whites and fold all the ingredients together. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 20 minutes. Cool, then remove from the tin.
Using a pastry cutter, mark out 6 x 6cm rounds in the top of the cake. Press 5 circules around the edge and one in the centre of the cake - keep the outer circles as close to the edge as possible to allow space for the centre circle. Use a sharp knife to cut out the rounds, then put in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the icing. Put the cream in a bowl. Sift over the icing sugar and the remaining cocoa powder. Using an electric hand whisk, beat until stiff peaks form.
Remove the cakes from the freezer and cut through each twice, horizontally, so that you have 3 layers per cake. Fill a piping bag fitted with a small star nozzle with the icing. Sandwich the layers with a piped spiral of filling, then pipe little stars around the edge of the tops. To serve, scatter with the grated chocolate.