White chocolate truffle torte

Method

1. Make the filling. Put 250g white chocolate into a food processor and process briefly until finely chopped.
2. Put the caster sugar into a pan with 5 tablespoons of water and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil. With the food processor’s motor running, add the hot syrup to the chocolate, followed by the egg yolks. Whizz briefly until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. In another bowl, whip the cream until it forms a soft trail. Fold into the white chocolate mixture, cover and chill for 2-2½ hours or until the mixture is just firm enough to hold its shape, but not set.
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4. Meanwhile, make the sponges. Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5. Lightly brush the base and sides of 2 x 20cm loose-bottomed sandwich tins with melted butter and base line the tins with baking paper.
5. Put the eggs and sugar into a large mixing bowl and whisk with an electric hand whisk for 4-5 minutes, until thick and mousse-like. Sift over and gently fold in the flour. Divide evenly between the cake tins – there isn’t much mixture but the cakes rise well. Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes.
6. Remove the cakes from the oven and set aside for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack and cool.
7. Line the sides of a 20cm springform tin with a tall strip of non-stick baking paper. Place 1 sponge, base-side up, in the bottom of the tin and sprinkle over 3 tablespoons of the orange-flavoured liqueur. Remove the chocolate mixture from the fridge and pour evenly on top of the sponge. Freeze for 1 hour to firm up the filling. Sprinkle the remaining liqueur over the base of the second sponge and place base-side down on top of the truffle mixture. Wrap the tin well in cling film and freeze overnight or for up to 1 month.
8. For the curls, put a baking sheet in the fridge to chill. Meanwhile, put the remaining chocolate into a bowl over a pan of just-simmering water. Leave until melted, remove from the heat and gently stir until smooth. Pour onto the chilled baking sheet, spreading very thinly with a palette knife. Chill until set but not rock hard. Hold a fish slice at a 45-degree angle to the chocolate and scrape along and away from you to make lots of short curls.
9. Transfer the torte to the fridge, 2 hours before serving, until soft enough to slice yet firm. Remove from the tin, cover with a thick layer of chocolate curls, then dust with icing sugar. Cut into wedges to serve.

Note: this recipe contains raw egg.