It was suggested that "perhaps Siobhan can make a cake.." followed by "...well...she likes chocolate" after being asked what sort of cake! Said recipe was "Devils Food Cake" although I altered it slightly from the book. I decided to make a chocolate sandwich-cake with raspberry jam in the middle - no cream because of cetain people with cholesterol issues. Of course, this doesn't apply to chocolate at all...!!! ;oD Anyway, instead of cream was jam in the middle, and instead of icing, I made chocolate ganache which was really just a bar of cooking chocolate (dark) melted with some butter, drizzled over the top and left to dry and harden. Before the ganache hardened, I put some little shop-bought suger-icing flowers to decorate, and on presentation, a group of fresh raspberries on the top, surrounding the candle! The only criticism I gave it was that there should have been more jam in the middle.
Now I know what it tastes like, I know that more jam will NOT make it too sweet at all! :o)
THE CAKE:280g (10oz / 2 and a quarter cups) self raising flour
85g (3oz / 2 thirds of a cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
345g (12oz / 1 and a half cups) caster (fine) sugar
3 eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
150g (5.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
icing sugar to dust
Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F / Gas 4. Grease a 9.5inch round cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Sift flour and cocoa into a large bowl. Add sugar, eggs, butter and 250ml (9 fl oz / 1 cup) water. Using electric beaters, beat on low speed for 1 minute. Increase the speed to high and beat for a further 4 minutes. Pour into tin and bake for around 55 minutes or untila skewer comes out clean when poked into the centre of the cake. Leave in the tim for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
THE GANACHE
225g (8oz / 2 thirds of a cup) chopped dark chocolate
70g (2.5oz) unsalted butter
Put chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl. Half fill a sausepan with water and bring to the boil. Sit the bowl over the pan, DON'T LET THE BOWL TOUCH THE WATER. Allow to stand, stirring ocasionally until the chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool slightly before spreading it over the top of the cake.
TOP TIP: GIVE YOURSELF MORE TIME IF YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT SIZE CAKE TIN!
I discovered that I didn't have a cake tin large enough, so I used a smaller one, which was 8 inches in diameter, but it was quite deep - around 4 inches. In this size tin, the cake will take longer to bake - give it 1 and a half hours or thereabouts. Mine was ready in 1 hour 40 mins before the skewer came out clean.
