Schokoküchlein

Ingredients

• 125 g butter ( + 1 tbsp for the molds)
• 125 g spelt flour
• 1 Vanilla bean
• 250 ml milk
• 150 g dark chocolate couverture
• 70 g ground roasted walnuts
• 8 egg yolks
• 8 egg whites
• 100 g sugar ( + 2 tbsp for the molds)
• 10 g powdered sugar (for decoration)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Bring the milk, vanilla bean, and seeds to a boil.

2. 2.

   Melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler until smooth.

3. 3.

   Heat butter in a saucepan, stir in flour, cook briefly, then remove the vanilla bean from the milk and whisk the hot milk into the roux; simmer for 10 minutes with occasional stirring.

4. 4.

   Transfer the mixture to a bowl, let it cool slightly, fold in two unwhipped egg whites. Then add the yolks one at a time, continuously whisking until smooth, incorporating the melted chocolate and walnuts. Beat the remaining egg whites with sugar until stiff peaks form; fold about a quarter of this into the batter, then gently fold in the rest with a spatula.

5. 5.

   Butter the molds if needed and dust them with sugar. Pipe the batter up to ¾ full using a pastry bag with a large tip. Place the molds in a hot water bath and bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C (160 °C fan) for 25–30 minutes.

6. 6.

   Remove the chocolate cakes from the molds, dust with powdered sugar, and serve immediately.