Hello! I know, it’s been a while. I think Instagram has been fulfilling my need to post photos of food for a while now. It was nice though to get the ‘real’ camera out again and take a picture or two the other day. These photos are of a chocolate cake I baked last weekend. I wanted to share this one because it was really really yummy – very moist and…well…dense, as the name suggests :) It was fairly quick and easy to make – the main (off-putting) task being the lining of the tin. Yeah, you get the picture.
Recipe
225 g soft butter
375 g dark muscovado sugar
2 large organic/free-range eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100 g best dark chocolate, melted
200 g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
250 ml boiling water
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5. Grease and line a 23x13x7cm cm (9x5x3in) loaf tin.
2. Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs and vanilla, beating in well.
3. Fold in the melted and cooled chocolate, taking care to blend well but being careful not to overbeat. You want the ingredients combined: you don’t want a light airy mass.
4. Gently add the flour, to which you’ve added the bicarb, alternately spoon by spoon, with 250 ml of boiling water until you have a smooth and fairly liquid batter.
5. Pour into the lined loaf tin and bake for 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 170°C/gas mark 3 and cook for another 15 minutes. The cake will still be a bit squidgy inside, so an inserted cake tester or skewer won’t come out completely clean.
6. Place the loaf tin on a rack and leave to get completely cold before turning it out. If you have the willpower, this cake improves if left for a day or so before eating. Don’t be alarmed it sinks a bit in the middle – it still tastes great :)
This recipe is from Nigella Lawson’s book, ‘How to be a Domestic Goddess’.
