Bake of the Week: MasterChef's Gregg Wallace's white choc gateau

THIS classy-looking sponge is the inspiration of MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace for Divine Chocolate.

It’s a fat-free sponge using plain flour – to get it to rise you need to whisk the eggs and caster sugar together long enough until the mixture is paler in colour and leaves a trail when the whisk is lifted.

When we made it we added a little baking powder, just to be on the safe side.

Braver bakers might feel they don’t need to!

You’ll need:

Butter, for greasing
4 eggs
125g caster sugar
125g plain flour
50g Divine White Chocolate, finely grated
3 tablespoons rosewater, or 2–3 drops rose essence
150ml crème fraîche
200g Divine White Chocolate, broken up
75g unsalted butter
3 tbsp single cream
125g icing sugar
White chocolate curls
Sugared rose petals (optional)
Icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

Grease and line bases of two 20cm (8in) round sandwich tins. Whisk eggs and caster sugar in a large bowl until thick enough to leave a trail when the whisk is lifted.

Sift flour into the bowl. Add grated chocolate and fold in.

Divide the mix between tins and bake in oven, 180°C/160C fan/gas mark 4/350F, for 20–25 mins until just firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Stir the rosewater into the crème fraîche and use to sandwich the cakes together on a serving plate.

Put the white chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely-simmering water, then leave until melted. Allow to cool, then stir in cream and icing sugar, beat until smooth.

Leave to cool further until it forms soft peaks, then spread over the top and side of the cake using a palette knife.

Decorate the top of the cake with chocolate curls, sugared rose petals, and a light dusting of icing sugar.

Top tip – To make the sugared rose petals, lightly brush fresh rose petals with beaten egg white and dust with caster sugar. Leave to dry on non-stick greaseproof paper for 1–2 hours.

For more, see divinechocolate.com

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