Drinking Chocolate Cake

Last Week was chocolate week in the U.K !

I discovered this chocolate cake recipe on Lavender & Lovage Blog.  I have tested lots of chocolate cake recipes and decided to try this one.

I have made a few adaptions but you can visit the recipe at Lavender & Lovage

Cake

150g self raising flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

180g caster sugar

200g very soft butter

4 medium free-range eggs

75g Green & Blacks organic drinking chocolate (or any other drinking chocolate)

3 tablespoons hot water (not boiling)

Chocolate Icing
225g plain chocolate (broken into pieces, or chocolate of your choice)
125ml double cream
150g softened butter (unsalted)
225g icing sugar (double sifted)

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 175C/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line two cake tins measuring 20cms/8”.

Mix the drinking chocolate with the hot water.

Whisk all of the cake ingredients together, until light and fluffy for at least 1 minute. 

Then add the hot water/chocolate mix and whisk again until the cake mixture is light and fluffy.

Divide the cake mixture between the two prepared cake tins and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the cakes are firm to touch and well risen.

Allow the cakes to cool in the tin for a few minutes, before carefully turning them out on to a wire cooking rack. (I found these cakes very delicate & crumbly to handle).

Cool the cakes completely before icing.

To make the icing

Sit a bowl over a pan of simmering water and add the chocolate and cream to the bowl and gently melt, stirring all the time until the chocolate and cream are blended and smooth.

Remove the chocolate and cream from the heat, then add the butter to the hot chocolate and cream mixture, stir it until smooth.

Sift in half the icing sugar and mix well, add the remaining icing sugar and mix until very creamy and smooth. Set aside to cool until thickened.

When you are ready to ice and fill the cakes, spread half of the icing over one of the cakes, and then place the other cake on top.

Spread the rest of the icing over the top of the cake.

After tasting this chocolate cake, everyone loved it especially my boys. I decided to make the Lavender & Lovage Chocolate Cherry Cake unfortunately I couldn't get any cherries as it is the end of season, so I used raspberries instead. Chocolate & Raspberries go together well.  

I made the Chocolate Raspberry Cake for my Dad Johnny's Birthday. Happy Birthday !!!

It is the basic recipe for the Drinking Chocolate Cake, baked in two sandwich tins then cut in half to make 4 cakes. Then you brush each layer with Liqueur before adding the chocolate icing to sandwich the layers together

Melt 100g of chocolate and dip your fresh raspberries into the melted chocolate.

I used Crème de cassis a sweet, dark red liqueur made from blackcurrant's to brush the chocolate cake layers before topping with the chocolate icing.

It was the perfect Sunday afternoon Birthday Cake ! 

We had a slice after Johnny's Lunch and then went for a long walk in Bolnhurst countryside.

Johnny's Chicory Salad

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This is Leon with his bag of Golden Nuggets ready to feed the fish at the big pond !