Ingredients

Method

• 120 g butter, cubed
• 130 g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
• 160 g caster sugar
• 6 free-range eggs, separated
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 35 g good-quality cocoa
• 200 g ground hazelnuts
• 2 macaron halves, to decorate
For the peanut butter icing:
• 200 g smooth peanut butter
• 6 T icing sugar
• 65 ml cream

Method

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Grease 2 x 15 cm x 7cm baking tins, then line with baking paper.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, taking care not to overheat it.

Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, mixing until well incorporated.

Sift in the cocoa and add the ground hazelnuts, then mix to incorporate.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then mix a ¼ of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then gently fold in the rest.

Pour the mixture into the baking tins and bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool in the tins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make peanut butter icing, cream the peanut butter and icing sugar using an electric hand-mixer until slightly lighter in colour. Add the cream and mix through. Chill the mixture for 10 minutes, then place in a large piping bag.

Sandwich together the 2 cakes with the icing, then ice the top. Sandwich together the macaron halves with the icing and use to decorate the cake.