chocolate cake

Wholemeal Chocolate & Walnut Cake

6 Comments / The Ordinary Cook /

I have made this cake for a course at Veg Patch Kitchen Cookery School tomorrow. I always make one or two cakes to welcome people with. We sit down for ten minutes at the start of every course and have a cup of tea and a slice of cake. It seems to me a very civilised way to start your day and I hope it gives people a sense that their day won’t just be filled with activity and learning but will also be relaxing and fun.

I have milled the flour fresh in my Komo table top mill, using Wakelyns YQ grain grown 5 miles away at Green Acres Farm in Kemberton but any wholemeal flour will work well. If you don’t have wholemeal then you can make a lighter cake using plain white flour or you can substitute the wholemeal with spelt flour. Experiment and see which flour you prefer.

150g soft unsalted butter
75g caster sugar
75g dark brown sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs
75g Greek yoghurt
100g dark chocolate, melted
75g wholemeal flour
25g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
65g walnuts, chopped plus some to sprinkle on top

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, gas mark 4, or use the baking oven of the four-oven Aga. Line a 20cm round cake tin.

Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until soft and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, blending in well before adding the second. Fold in the yoghurt, melted chocolate, flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Fold in the walnuts. Spoon the cake batter into the cake tin and sprinkle over the extra walnuts to decorate. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until it is firm on top and a few crumbs come out when you stick a skewer in. It will be a moist cake a bit like a brownie, but lighter and tender.

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Chocolate birthday cake

14 Comments / cake, chocolate /

It was Mr OC’s birthday.  Happy Birthday Mr OC.

This cake is a really good chocolate cake.  My friend’s husband made it for her birthday back in March.  I think it ranks as one of the best chocolate cakes that I have ever tasted, so I pinched the recipe.  The recipe comes from Dorling Kindersleys’ Children’s  Baking Book. I think this may now become my standard birthday cake.

175g (6oz) softened butter
175g (6oz) dark soft brown sugar
150g (5oz) self raising flour
25g (1oz) cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 eggs
100ml soured cream (or you can use double cream with a squeeze of lemon juice)

Method

Grease and line two 20cm sandwich tins.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Sieve over the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and add the eggs and soured cream and whisk again until well combined.  Divide between the two tins and spread the tops evenly.

Place in a preheated oven at 170°c, gas mark 3 or the baking oven of the Aga for 25-30 minutes until springy to the touch.  Leave to cool slightly, then turn out onto a wire rack and peel off the lining paper.  Allow to cool completely.

For the frosting:

175g (6oz) milk chocolate, or you could use white or plain depending on your preference
125g (4oz) butter
4 tbsp milk
200g (7oz) icing sugar

Method

Put the chocolate, butter and milk into a bowl set over a pan of simmering water until melted.  Take off the heat and sift the icing sugar over the top and whisk to combine.  Leave to cool slightly, then whisk again until the mixture forms soft peaks.

Use a quarter of the frosting on the bottom of one of the cakes and sandwich  the two cakes together.  Use the rest of the frosting to decorate the top and sides of the cake.  Then decorate to your heart’s content.  This is what happens when a three-year old is let loose.  I admire her restraint.

 

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