Chocolate and raspberry truffle bites

Preheat the oven to 170C or fan oven to 150C. Then line the base and sides of an 8” / 20cm square tin with non-stick baking parchment. Melt the unsalted butter and Divine 70% Dark Chocolate with Raspberries together in a bowl over a pan of simmering water – stir occasionally until smooth and then leave it for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Now stir in the egg yolks, ground almonds and almond extract. Next whisk the egg whites in a clean separate bowl until soft peaks form. Continue whisking the whites whilst adding the sugar, a spoonful at a time. Whisk well between each addition until all is incorporated and stiff peaks form. Then stir 2 tbsp egg white into the chocolate mixture before gently folding in the rest of the whites. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes until well risen and just firm to the touch (this cake can be kept up to 4 days ahead and stored in an airtight container or you can freezes it for up to one month).

Stamp individual rounds out of the cake using a 1.5” cutter ( you should get 25 pieces). Next place the very finely grated chocolate to cover, in 3 separate bowls and place each over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir continuously and remove form the heat as soon as the chocolate is melted. It's important to use this melted chocolate immediately. Working on no more than 5 cakes at a time, set these on a wire rack with a sheet of non-stick greaseproof paper underneath the tray. Using a large metal spoon or small ladle, spoon melted chocolate over the cakes until fully covered and gently tap the tray to settle the chocolate. Before the chocolate sets, dip a fork in a contrasting chocolate and marble over the cake creating interesting swirls as shown in the image. Once the chocolate begins to set decorate the top of each truffle with chocolate decorations. Allow the cakes to set before using a palette knife to transfer them to a serving plate.

Chef's tip: melted chocolate needs to be tempered to avoid the chocolate blooming and appearing dull as it sets. An easy way round this is to first grate the chocolate really finely using a cheese grater so it melts faster at a lower temperature. If the chocolate melts before it gets too hot it does not need to be tempered.