Eight texture chocolate cake

Melt 325 g dark chocolate in a double boiler and keep it warm; whip 500 ml heavy cream to soft peaks.

Over simmering water that does not touch the bowl, whisk four egg yolks, 50 g superfine sugar and half a split and scraped vanilla bean until thick and glossy - a sabayon.

Pour the still-warm melted chocolate over the sabayon and beat as fast as you can with a large whisk; the chocolate will seize.

Add a large spoonful of whipped cream and whisk a minute; if it does not soften add another. About half the cream should remain.

Whip three egg whites to soft peaks, pile them and the remaining cream on top and fold through gently.

Ganache: finely chop 60 g dark and 40 g milk chocolate. In a small heavy-based saucepan put 40 g superfine sugar with just enough water to wet it and take it to a medium golden brown caramel over high heat.

Slowly stream in 125 ml cream - it bubbles up dramatically - and stir with a wooden spoon until it settles; whisk in the seeds of the second half vanilla bean.

Pour the hot caramel cream over the chopped chocolate, mix to melt and combine, add a pinch of sea salt and 120 g of softened cubed unsalted butter.

Dacquoise: mix 90 g finely chopped roasted peeled hazelnuts, 35 g ground almonds and 8 g sifted cocoa powder.

Whip four egg whites to soft peaks, add 110 g superfine sugar slowly while mixing and take to stiff peaks, then fold the dry ingredients in.

Spread especially thin on a silicone mat, three millimetres or an eighth of an inch.

Bake six to eight minutes at 315F until crisp, then cut eight discs with a two and a half inch cookie cutter while still warm; store in an airtight container spaced with parchment.

Cake base: chop and melt 240 g dark chocolate and set it aside to cool without setting.

Cream 250 g butter with 200 g superfine sugar, then add four eggs one at a time.

Pour in the cooled chocolate, sift 65 g all-purpose flour on top and fold it in.

Spread on a silicone mat a centimetre high and bake at 350F for four to five minutes; his took roughly double that.

Once completely cool cut four inch circles, using the assembly ring as a cutter, and store in an airtight container.

Praline discs: finely chop 20 g roasted peeled hazelnuts. Take 40 g superfine sugar with just enough water to wet it to a medium brown caramel, pull it off the heat immediately, stir in the nuts and pour onto a baking mat to harden.

Finely chop the hardened praline, melt 200 g milk chocolate, stir the praline through and spread two millimetres thick on a silicone mat.

Before it sets completely, cut rounds with the two and a half inch cutter and firm them up in the fridge; milk chocolate is prone to melting.

Chocolate caramel cream: chop 60 g milk chocolate into a bowl. Take 60 g superfine sugar with just enough water to a medium brown caramel.

Add half of 500 ml heavy cream to the caramel, stirring until the caramel dissolves into the cream, and pour that over the chocolate; chill until firm.

Whip the other half of the cream to soft peaks and fold it in. Adding all the cream at once is wrong and he had to make it twice.

Transfer to a stainless bowl and whisk 250 ml of double cream to soft peaks; keep in the fridge until needed.

Tempered top disc: line a flat baking tray, upturned so it is as flat as possible, with silicone paper and cover it with plastic wrap pulled tight and taut.

Chop 200 g dark chocolate and melt it gently in a double boiler to 118 degrees, monitoring with a thermometer.

Let it cool to 84F, then bring it back to 93F and take it off.

Spread a one to two millimetre layer over the taut wrap and leave it to set, about 40 minutes, or 20 minutes in a blast chiller.

Cut four inch discs by pressing down with the ring before it is completely set; do not manhandle it or it takes fingerprints.

Hot chocolate sauce: finely chop and melt 250 g dark chocolate in a double boiler.

Heat 150 ml milk to precisely 175F and stir it into the chocolate; his seized, and a tablespoon at a time of warmer-but-not-hot milk brought it back smooth and glossy.

The mousse needs a minimum of six hours in the fridge before the cake is assembled.

Assemble in four inch stainless steel rings: cake base on the bottom, then a tablespoon of chocolate mousse spread evenly on top to a thickness of one centimetre, wiping the ring clean above it.

Press the two and a half inch milk chocolate praline disc gently into the mousse.

Spread two teaspoons of the room-temperature caramel vanilla ganache evenly on the disc, then lay on the chocolate hazelnut dacquoise.

Whip the chocolate caramel cream to stiff peaks and spread a large tablespoon over the dacquoise, flush with the top of the inch-high ring and around the disc, not just on it.

Pass a blowtorch quickly round the outside of the rings to release the cakes.

Make a three centimetre wide, one centimetre deep well in the centre of the cream with a teaspoon.

Set the tempered dark chocolate disc on top and flash it with the blowtorch for an even sheen; matte turns glossy.

At the table, spoon a small amount of hot chocolate sauce into the middle so it melts through the disc into the well. His disc was too thick and barely melted even after repeated flashing.