Baked chocolate mousse with candied fennel root

From James Martin "Desserts".

Serves 6-8

1/2 fennel bulb, finely sliced
300g dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa fat (I used 70%)
150g unsalted butter
6 eggs, separated
50g caster sugar ( I used golden)
150ml whipped double cream, to serve (optional - we tried this with real vanilla ice - cream and it tasted good, but you can also skip cream)

Melt the chocolate and butter in a metal or glass bowl placed over a pan of simmering water.

Whisk the egg yolks together with 2 tbsp of the sugar for 30 seconds and stir in the melted chocolate. Mix well.

Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until very stiff, then quickly fold one-third of the whites into the chocolate mix. Gently fold in the remainder and pour the mix into a 20cm loose bottom cake tin lined with baking paper and sliced fennel.

Place in the middle shelf of the preheated oven (180C), bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving. It must be eaten in room temperature, as it firms up too much when in the fridge.

For candied fennel

1 fennel bulb
100g caster sugar (again I used golden)
100ml water

Slice the fennel bulb and add to a pan with the sugar and water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool.