Truffle Torte

Delia Smith says this is the best chocolate dessert she's eaten in years. The recipe was given to her by the chef at the Athenaeum Hotel in Piccadilly, London. Oh, and she says it is easy to make. It can be made a few days in advance and it freezes well. You can buy liquid glucose at a chemist. This needs overnight chilling. It's very rich, so serve small portions. The system won't allow amaretti biscuits, but that's what they are.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Yields: 1 torte

Ingredients

• 5  tablespoons  liquid glucose
• 5  tablespoons rum
• 450  g chocolate
• 570  ml  double cream, at room temperature
• 75  g amaretti, crushed finely

• To serve

•  cocoa powder, for dusting
•  chilled  single cream, for pouring

Directions

1. Line a 23 cm cake tin, lined with silicone paper. Brush the sides and base lightly with groundnut oil.
2. Sprinkle the crushed biscuits all over the base of the tin.
3. Next break the chocolate into sections and put it in a heat proof bowl, with the liquid glucose and the rum. Fit the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, then leave it until the chocolate has melted and become smooth. Stir, then take off the heat and leave the mixture to cool for five minutes or so until it feels just warm.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the cream until only very slightly thickened.
5. Fold half into the chocolate mixture and then fold that mixture into the rest of the cream. When it is smoothly blended, spoon it into the prepared tin.
6. Tap the tin gently to even the mixture out, cover with clingfilm and chill overnight.
7. Just before serving, run a palette knife round the edge to loosen the torte, then give it a good shake and turn the whole thing out on to a serving plate.
8. To serve, dust the surface with sifted cocoa powder and, if you like, mark the top into serving sections. Serve with cream. If you like, add a couple of tablespoons of amaretti liqueur to the cream.