Ingredients:
300g (11oz) dark chocolate, broken into pieces
225g (8oz) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
225g (8oz) golden caster sugar
170g (6oz) ground almonds
60g (2oz) crystallised ginger (plus some for decoration)
8 large eggs, separated
125g (4oz) fresh brown breadcrumbs (make you own using stale bread in a blender)
The ganache for coating :
175g (6oz) dark chocolate, broken into pieces
75g (3oz) butter, softened
4tbsp Cornish double cream
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan oven) mark 4. Grease and line 12 muffin cases.
Melt the chocolate by putting it into a heatproof bowl resting over a pan of just-boiled water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Remove melted chocolate from the heat. Do not let the steam get into the chocolate as this will thicken it.
Place the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl and using a beater, beat together until light and creamy. Add the ground almonds, egg yolks, breadcrumbs and ginger and beat well until mixed together thoroughly. Slowly add the chocolate and carefully stir it in, taking care not to over-mix as the chocolate may thicken quickly.
Put the egg whites into a clean, grease-free bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form. Add half the whites to the chocolate mixture and fold in lightly using a large metal spoon, then carefully fold in the remainder.
Pour the mixture into the prepared muffin cases as equally as possible. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cakes are firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean
For the ganache, put the chocolate, butter and cream into a bowl and rest it over a pan of hot water. When it has melted, stir the mixture just once until smooth – too much stirring at this stage will over-thicken it.
To ice the bombs, take the cakes out of the muffin cases and dip the cake bottom first into the ganache making sure to cover the muffin. Place onto a cooling wire to set. Decorate with ginger.
As featured by Cornish Guardian and West Briton newspapers.