Sunken chocolate cake with passion fruit-rippled cream

Preheat the oven to 180ºC, gas mark 4. Grease a 20cm springform cake tin with butter, then line the base with baking parchment. Put the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and let them melt over a pan of just simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Stir in the cocoa powder.

Using a stand mixer, whisk together the sugars, 2 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks for 2-3 minutes until pale brown, velvety, and at least doubled in volume. Beat the chocolate mixture into this, then add the ground almonds stir until fully incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining 3 egg whites and a pinch of salt to stiff peaks. Fold this into the chocolate mixture in three stages, then transfer the cake mix into the tin.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until a crust has formed and is beginning to show a few cakey bubbles and cracks around the edge, but there is still a hint of a wobble underneath the centre. Remove, allow to cool and sink in the tin.

Poke a skewer or cocktail stick into the middle of the cooled cake. If the core is still a bit gooey, chill the cake for an hour or two. Ideally, allow it to come back to room temperature before serving.

When it’s dessert time, use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer to whip the cream to ribbon stage, so that with a few more stirs of a spatula it just holds its shape when spooned and loosely spread onto the centre of the cake (leaving a few centimetres at the edge). Cut the passion fruits in ½ and spoon over the cream, then serve.