Chocolate Torte with Pineapple Sorbet - Chef Recipe by Matt Taylor and John Frid

Ingredients

Chocolate Torte:

255g excellent dark chocolate, 65% or higher, finely chopped
255g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
380g white sugar
7 large eggs, room temperature
1 vanilla bean, scraped using only the inner part of the bean

Pineapple Sorbet:

6 cups pineapple puree
300g sugar
120g water
1/2 a lime, squeezed

Pineapple Agave Chews (garnish):

120mL fresh pineapple juice
15g agave syrup
5 Tbs water
5g Agar Agar
1g leaf of gelatin, bloomed

Method

Pineapple Sorbet:

Heat all ingredients in a saucepan, until sugar is just dissolved.

Place in the fridge until cold, about four hours.

Place mixture into a pre-frozen ice cream canister and turn on ice cream maker for 20 minutes.

Pineapple Agave Chews:

Place all ingredients into a small saucepan and heat to a boil.

Remove from heat and pour into a cling film lined 12cm x 12cm pan.

Cool to room temperature and then place in the fridge until set.

Remove from pan and cut into desired shapes.

Chocolate Torte:

Pre-heat oven to 175 C (fan forced).

Grease and line with baking paper, a 23cm spring form pan and grease again.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler until almost melted. Remove from heat and stir until smooth.

Stir in sugar and let mixture cool for a few minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing in completely between each addition.

Once the eggs are added, continue to stir until the batter becomes thick and glossy. Stir in vanilla bean and mix until evenly distributed.

Pour batter into the spring form pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until the centre is not completely set. Start checking after 20 minutes, the centre should be a bit wobbly, don’t over bake.

Let the cake cool in the pan to room temperature. Remove the spring form ring and cut into 9 slices.

Add a quenelle of sorbet and decorate with agave chews.

Recipe provided by Tequila Mockingbird