Now this is a cake worthy of a special occasion. It seems long and complicated but it is really not as difficult as it seems and the border in particular is a lot of fun to make. You do have to allow plenty of time for chilling.

Chocolate & Peach Gateau

INGREDIENTS

For the Sponge Border

For the chocolate swirls

1 egg yolk

1 egg white

25g caster sugar

20g plain flour

10g corn flour

¼ tsp baking powder

2 tbsp cocoa powder

For the plain sponge

3 eggs yolks

3 egg whites

60g caster sugar

60g plain flour

10g corn flour

¾ tsp baking powder

For the base, and bottom Sponge

120g unsalted butter, softened

160g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

pinch of salt

5 eggs

120g plain flour

125g corn flour

2 tsp baking powder

40g dark chocolate, grated

40 g desiccated coconut

For the Chocolate Mousse

200g dark chocolate, (min 70% cocoa)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 – 2 tbsp Malibu

200ml double cream

For the Fruit Mousse

6 sheets of leaf gelatine, soaked

2 x 220g tinned peach slices, drained weight

2 medium bananas

1 tbsp lemon juice

400ml double cream

2 tbsp caster sugar

To Decorate

Some coconut flakes, optional

METHOD

For the sponge border, line a Swiss roll tin with baking parchment.

To make the chocolate swirls, beat the egg white with the salt and ½ tbsp of cold water until soft peaks form then slowly beat in the sugar. Stir in the egg yolk. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, corn flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and carefully fold into the egg mixture until well incorporated. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag and pipe 4 rows of swirls onto the baking parchment in the tin. Alternatively, pipe a design of your choice. Place the tin into the freezer for 1 hour.

For the base and top sponge, grease and base line a 25cm spring form. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan.

In the bowl of your stand mixer beat together the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla essence. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add one tablespoon of the flour mixture with the first egg to prevent the mixture from curdling. Once all the eggs have been incorporated stir in the flours and coconut. Lastly stir in the grated chocolate. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Turn the sponge out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely then cut in half horizontally.

Keep the oven on. To make the plain sponge for the sponge border, beat the egg whites with the salt and 1½ tbsp of cold water until soft peaks form then slowly beat in the sugar. Stir in the egg yolks. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, corn flour and baking powder and carefully fold into the egg mixture until well incorporated. Remove the chocolate swirls form the freezer. Pour the sponge cake mixture over the swirls in the tin and smooth the top. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes. Turn the sponge out onto a piece of baking parchment sprinkled with a little sugar. Remove the baking paper and immediately turn the sponge over onto another piece of baking parchment sprinkled with a little sugar. The swirls should now be facing down, and then loosely roll up the sponge. Leave to cool on a cooling rack.

To make the chocolate mousse, break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and melt the chocolate over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Be careful not to let the bowl touch the water. Stir until smooth and set aside. In another bowl and over the simmering water, beat the eggs and sugar until pale and creamy. Remove from the heat and beat in the melted chocolate and the Malibu. Leave to cool a little before beating the cream until thick but not stiff then stir the cream into the chocolate mixture. Set aside.

To make the fruit mousse, drain one tin of peaches, then place the peaches, bananas and lemon juice into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the fruit into a large bowl. Take 3 tbsp of the fruit puree and gently heat in a saucepan until almost boiling. Take of the heat and dissolve the squeezed out gelatine in the hot puree. Add 2 tbsp of the cold puree to the gelatine mixture then stir the gelatine mixture into the fruit puree. In another bowl, beat the cream until it begins to thicken then add the sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Stir the cream into the fruit puree until well combined. Chill for 30 minutes until the mixture begins to set.

Place the outer ring of the 25cm spring form onto a serving plate. Trim the sponges to 23cm circles. Place a sponge in the ring on the serving plate. Unroll the patterned sponge and cut into 5cm strips. Place the strips around the inside of the ring gently pushing the strips down onto the serving plate to enclose the base sponge. Drain the second can of peaches and place 5-6 peach slices into the centre of the sponge base. Spoon about a third of the fruit mousse over the peaches in the shape of a dome, leaving a 5cm strip free on the outside. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the chocolate mousse into a piping bag. Spoon the remaining chocolate mousse into the free space around the fruit mousse. Place the second sponge on top, again inside the border sponge and top with the remaining fruit puree. Smooth the top with a pallet knife then pipe swirls of chocolate mousse over the top. Chill the cake for at least 4 hours.

Remove the spring from ring and decorate the top with peach pieces and coconut flakes.