Watching MasterChef has been known to inspire me in the kitchen … Sometimes.

The other night I announced that I wanted to make a chocolate cake … I had a fluffy sponge in mind but came across a lovely flourless version online (where else do you find recipes these days, I say looking at a shelf full of lovely cookbooks).

This cake is more pudding then anything, cooked in a steam bath ( nothing like a good steam bath for cake and people).

It was a hit, eaten warm with icecream … Go and try it now, NOW!

This is from taste.com.au
Ingredients (serves 8)

• Melted reduced-fat dairy spread, to grease
• 50g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder
• 80ml (1/3 cup) hot water
• 2 tsp instant coffee powder
• 2 tsp boiling water
• 1 x 100g pkt almond meal
• 100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
• 3 eggs, separated
• Strawberries, washed, sliced, to serve

The how

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a round 22cm (base measurement) cake pan with melted dairy spread to lightly grease. Line the base with non-stick baking paper.

2. Combine the cocoa powder and hot water in a medium bowl. Combine the instant coffee powder and boiling water in a cup. Add the coffee to the cocoa mixture and stir until combined.

3. Add almond meal, sugar and egg yolks to cocoa mixture, and stir until well combined.

4. Use an electric beater to whisk egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Use a metal spoon to fold a spoonful of egg whites into cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg whites until just combined.

5. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Place cake pan in a roasting pan. Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to reach two-thirds of the way up the side of the cake pan. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven. Remove cake pan from water bath and set aside for 20 minutes to cool. Turn cake onto a wire rack and remove paper. Set aside for a further 20 minutes or until cooled to room temperature.

6. Cut cake into wedges and carefully transfer to serving plates. Serve with strawberries.