Celebration cake

1.Preheat oven to moderately slow. 160°C (140°C fan-forced).Grease deep 22cm round cake pan, line base and side with baking paper.

2.Stir butter, dark chocolate and the water in medium saucepan over low heat until smooth. Transfer mixture to large bowl, cool 10 minutes.

3.Meanwhile, beat eggs, extract and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until thick and creamy, stir into chocolate mixture. Stir in sifted dry ingredients, pour batter into prepared pan. Bake, uncovered, in moderately slow oven about 1¾ hours. Stand cake in pan 10 minutes turn cake onto wire rack to cool. Enclose cake with plastic wrap, refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

4.Split cake horizontally a third of the way from the top. Place bottom two-thirds of cake on serving plate. Using small teaspoon or melon baller, scoop about 14 deep holes (at equal distances apart and not through to bottom of cake) out of cake, reserving 1¼ cups of scooped-out cake pieces for truffles.

5.Meanwhile make white chocolate custard, pour immediately into holes in cake. Replace top of cake, cover, refrigerate 2 hours.

6.White chocolate custard. Place milk in small saucepan. Split vanilla bean in half lengthways, scrape seeds into saucepan, then add pod, bring to a boil. Cool 10 minutes, discard pod. Whisk in egg yolks, transfer mixture to medium heatproof bowl. Place milk mixture over medium saucepan of simmering water, stir over heat about 10 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. Sprinkle gelatine over the water in small heatproof jug, stand jug in same saucepan of simmering water. Stir until gelatine dissolves. Stir gelatine mixture into milk mixture, cover, cool 5 minutes. Add chocolate and cream, stir until smooth.

7.Make Chocolate Truffles. Stir chocolate and cream in small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Stir in reserved scooped-out cake, cover, refrigerate until firm. Roll level teaspoons of the mixture into balls, place on trays, cover, refrigerate until firm.

8.then Chocolate Ganache. Stir ingredients in small saucepan over low heat until smooth.

9.Spread chocolate ganache over cake, decorate with truffles. Drizzle truffles with white chocolate, refrigerate 1 hour before serving.