Mirror Glaze Chocolate and Raspberry Bombe

Preheat oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan oven/ Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 7 inch round cake tin.

Put the softened butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat together until pale. Add the egg and milk then sift in the cocoa powder and flour. Mix well until you have a smooth batter.

Transfer the batter to the prepared tin, smooth the top, then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes in the cake tin then turn out of the tin to cool completely.

Put the raspberries in a food processor and blend until smooth. Put the blended raspberries into a fine sieve and sieve into a bowl to remove the seeds.

Dissolve the Gelatine according to the packet instructions.

In a large mixing bowl put the egg yolks and sugar and whisk together with an electric whisk until light, fluffy and thickened. This is called the ribbon stage where the mixture will fall off the whisk in ribbons.

Stir in the raspberry puree and dissolved Gelatine.

In a bowl whisk the double cream and Vanilla Paste until soft peaks then fold into the raspberry mixture.

In another bowl whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Add a spoonful of the egg whites to the raspberry mixture and stir until combined.

Next take a third of the egg whites and gently fold into the raspberry mixture until well combined. Repeat with another third of the egg whites gently folding to combine. Repeat with the remainder of the egg whites and fold in until all the egg white is combined.

Take the 8 inch dome mould and line with cling film. Pour in the raspberry mousse mixture then place the cooled chocolate sponge onto top of the mousse so that the sponge is central and the base is level with the mousse. Cover and put into the freezer overnight to set ensuring the dome remains level.

Meanwhile make the fondant holly leaves and berries. Roll out a quarter of the green fondant on a clean surface dusted with icing sugar to about the thickness of a penny. Take a holly leaf cutter and cut out at least two leaves, but cut more as back ups or if you’d like to decorate with more holly leaves. Take a quarter of the red fondant and pinch off small pieces and roll between your palms to make round berries. Place the berries and leaves on a flat tray lined with greaseproof paper and allow to air dry overnight uncovered.

On the day of serving make the mirror glaze. Add the cream, water, sugar, Liquid Glucose and Cocoa Powder to a heavy based pan and gently bring to the boil stirring constantly. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 2 minutes stirring continuously. Put the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, dissolve the Gelatine according to the packet instructions. After 10 minutes, stir in the dissolved Gelatine then sieve the mixture again into a jug.

Put the glaze into the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes until still fluid but thickened, stirring every 5-10 minutes to prevent a skin from forming. 

Once the glaze is ready, remove the bombe from the freezer and turn out of the mould onto an upturned bowl that is slightly smaller in diameter to the base of the dome, ensure the bombe is stable. Place a wire rack inside a deep baking tray then place the bowl with the bombe on top of the wire rack.

Take the glaze and slowly pour over the bombe ensuring it is evenly coated.

Melt the white chocolate in a glass bowl or jug in the microwave on high temperature in bursts of 20 seconds, stirring in between bursts until melted.

Place the bombe onto a serving plate and then drizzle the top with the white chocolate and decorate with the hardened fondant holly leaves and berries.
Put in the fridge for 1-2hrs to defrost before serving.