You might want to bookmark this post for future reference, because it contains the best excuse ever, for not turning up to something.

A friend was in a bit of a bind the other day, because she had organised to attend a show with two other friends and they had cancelled on her at the last minute, despite the fact she had already bought tickets for everyone. The first person was sick, and as for the second? Well, you’d expect that her car might have broken down, a toilet was severely blocked, or she had taken ill as well. But no :

“X just sent me an email saying that she just found out that a liver to dissect will be coming in this afternoon and she’s not sure if she’ll be able to make it.”

How is that for an awesome excuse?

Oh, and the chocolate cake is pretty good too. But no one ever needs an excuse to make yet another chocolate cake. 😀

Chocolate Fudge Cake :
This cake didn’t look like anything special to me, until I read the recipe closely and discovered that the batter is actually baked in two stages, yielding a dense fudgey layer at the base, and a moussey layer on top. Intriguing enough to warrant an attempt. My version turned out wonderfully moist with great chocolate flavour, but it wasn’t quite so obvious that there was a distinction between the layers. I think if I wanted a true moussey layer, I’d still prefer to make the Eve’s chocolate cake. If you want to try making this cake, but can’t be bothered baking it twice, you can just bake the entire cake as is. It will still be great.
(serves 6-8, from Ottolenghi : The Cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi)

240g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
265g dark chocolate (52% cocoa solids), cut into small pieces
95g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), cut into small pieces
290g light muscovado sugar
4 tablespoons water
5 large free-range eggs, separated
a pinch of salt
cocoa powder for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 170’C. Grease a 20cm springform cake tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment.

2. Place the butter and both types of chocolate in a very large heatproof bowl – it should be big enough to accomodate the entire mix. Put the brown sugar and water in a small saucepan, stir to mix, then bring to the boil over a medium heat. Pour the boiling syrup over the butter and chocolate and stir well until they have melted and you are left with a runny chocolate sauce. Stir in the egg yolks, one at a time. Set aside until the mixture comes to room temperature.

3. Put the egg whites and salt in a large bowl and whisk to a firm, but not too dry meringue. Using a rubber spatula or a large metal spoon, gently fold the meringue into the cooled chocolate mixture a third at a time. The whites should be fully incorporated but there is no harm if you see small bits of meringue in the mix.

4. Pour 800g (about two-thirds) of the mixture into the prepared cake tin and level gently with a palette knife. Leave the rest of the batter for later. Place the cake in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out almost clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool properly.

5. Flatten the top of the cake with a palette knife. Don’t worry about breaking the crust. Pour the rest of the batter on top and level the surface again. Return to the oven and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. The cake should still have moist crumbs when checked with a skewer. Leave to cool completely before removing from the tin. Dust with cocoa powder and serve.

6. The cake will keep, covered at room temperature for 4 days.

(This Chocolate Fudge Cake by Ottolenghi is my second submission to Lorraine’s Chocolate Cake Challenge.)

I have been threatening to make this tart by Helen for months now, ever since she first posted about it. It was the novel (to me) idea of having a healthy carrot and oat crust, that attracted me to the recipe. Also, with a filling of silverbeet (she used rainbow chard in the original), eggs and a restrained hand with the parmesan grater.. how could you go wrong with that combination?

When I finally made it for our dinner the other day, my only regret was that it had taken me so long to bake this fantastic tart. The crust despite being sufficiently healthy, was very tart-like, so you weren’t left feeling as though something had been compromised in terms of not having the usual shortcrust pastry. I believe, no buttery-tart-lover having tasted this, would have felt in the least bit duped.

The filling was bound by egg, but only just so (especially since the eggs I used were smaller), without it tasting like a frittata or a quiche, which B definitely isn’t a huge fan of. In fact, the end result was so delicious and made me feel so virtuous that I even went for seconds. (Thank you for the recipe, Helen! Next on my list is that award-winning chilli of yours 😀 )

Of course, after virtuosity, comes cake.

I have made a version of Eve’s chocolate cake many times before, but this time was sorely tested by the lack of proper equipment in my kitchen at home. Despite this, the rapid disappearance of the cake once it was assembled, is evidence enough of it’s success (or our greed).

What I love about this cake, apart from it being a completely flourless and nut-free chocolate cake, with minimal amounts of butter and added sugar, is the genius of having a cake topping made from the reserved unbaked cake mixture. That’s two-for-the-price-of-one, as far as any cake-making effort is concerned! If I hadn’t known that this cake was named after Damien Pignolet’s friend Eve Knottenbelt, I would’ve concluded that this cake was so called, because of it’s simple beauty, it’s grace and purity in flavour.

Eve’s Chocolate Cake :
(from French by Damien Pignolet)

360g bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
50g soft unsalted butter
12 x 65g eggs, separated
30g caster sugar
20g caster sugar
a little grated bittersweet chocolate and cocoa, to decorate

Grease a 26-28cm springform cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 150’C.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a bain-marie of hot (not boiling) water then work in the soft butter.

Beat the egg yolks with the 30g of sugar until pale. Combine them with the melted chocolate and butter.

Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry (preferably in a copper bowl with a wire whisk), and then beat in the 20g of sugar until stiff.

Beat 1/4 of the egg-white mixture into the chocolate and then fold this gently but thoroughly back into the remaining egg-white mixture.

Transfer 1/4 of the cake mixture into a bowl and refrigerate. Pour the balance of the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30-40 minutes. It should remain slightly moist in the centre; to test, press the centre with your finger after 30 minutes – it should hold the indentation.

Remove from the oven and turn out directly onto a serving platter. Remove the springform ring and base. Leave to cool completely. The cake will collapse to leave a crater in the centre. Fill the crater with the reserved mixture and scatter with the chocolate. Dust lightly with cocoa and serve with whipped cream.

[Note : Eve’s chocolate cake is my submission to Lorraine’s Chocolate Cake challenge. I’m afraid I don’t have a “best ever” chocolate cake recipe, as my ultimate cake varies from day to day, but this one is definitely up there. 🙂 ]

Today marks my last full day in Belfast, Northern Ireland. And I’m stuck at home with a bit of a cold and a sore throat. Usually if I’m feeling a little sorry for myself, I like to whip up something quick and comforting. A fudgey cake-like thing is often my Plan A (Plan B being cheese on toast). If there is a block of Lindt 70% in the cupboard and a scrape or two left of vanilla ice-cream in the freezer, then everything is going swimmingly, George Peppard. With this happy injection of chocolate, I then proceed to curl up on the couch, and watch something trashy on TV. I am particularly obsessed with food/cooking programs (surprise surprise). Stefan Gates’ Cooking in the Danger Zone was a recent good one and Gordon Ramsay is always entertaining.

A couple of days ago, I spotted a set of cute white ramekins in B’s mom’s kitchen, and decided to make some mini chocolate cakes. (The ramekins remind me of little flower pots, so I imagine it might be interesting to try baking small bread rolls or even muffins in them). These cakes can be made with plain flour instead of ground almonds, if you happen to not have any almonds in the house. For a more pudding-y feel, I served the cakes warm, ladled over with a generous spoonful of warm chocolate sauce (flavour this with a dash of Baileys, depending on the location of your occasion).

Jill Dupleix’s Little Chocolate Cakes :

Makes 12

200g bittersweet dark chocolate
100g caster sugar
120g butter
100g ground almonds
4 large eggs, separated
icing sugar for dusting

Heat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.

Roughly chop the chocolate. Fit a heatproof bowl into a saucepan of simmering water, and combine the chocolate, sugar and butter in the bowl. Stir as it melts into a smooth and glossy sauce. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.

Add the ground almonds, and stir well. Beat in the egg yolks, one by one, until well-mixed.

Place the egg whites in a large dry bowl and beat until stiff and peaky. Stir a large spoonful of egg white into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then gently fold in the remaining egg white.

Spoon into lightly buttered large-muffin moulds or doubled cake papers, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing from moulds. Serve at room temperature, dusted with icing sugar. Store in an airtight container for up to three days.