Gooey Chocolate Cake

Here I am again with another Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe… I hope they aren’t getting tedious, but I just love his food as well as his ideology so much! I think I might get an ‘I heart Hugh F-W’ t-shirt printed one of these days… anyway, I digress!!

Here is another success from his Everyday cookbook, and is a little different from the normal chocolate cakes you get. It’s made with almonds in the mix which gives it a lovely moist texture as well as a sort of warm taste if you know what I mean. There’s something really comforting about almonds, and whenever they sneak in to a recipe you really can tell, there’s a certain flavour that sort of envelopes you, they make the dish that little bit more luxurious and rich without overwhelming you. I don’t know if I’m explaining this very well, let’s just say they bring a certain je ne sais quoi to the cake!!

As well as this, the cake isn’t really a cake… I’m worried I’m going to lose you here, but bear with me! This is a good thing!! Instead of a run-of-the-mill sponge, this one is kind of gooey inside due to the lack of flour and when warm it’s a little difficult to tame but wonderfully smooth, soft and sticky, and then when it’s been cooling for a few hours and comes to room temperature – Oh. My. God!! The mix of brown sugar with caster sugar gives it a wonderfully caramelly flavour and it’s like chocolate fudge encased in chocolate cake! Completely delicious and oh-so-moreish!!

Chocolate Cake:

250g dark chocolate
250g unsalted butter
4 medium eggs, separated
100g caster sugar
100g soft light brown sugar
50g plain flour
50g ground almonds

Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until well combined, then add the melted chocolate and butter to the yolk mix.
Combine the flour and almonds then fold these in too.
In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until they form firm peaks.
Stir in one spoonful of whites to the chocolate mix to loosen it, then continue to fold in the rest of the whites, careful not to knock out the air.
Put the mixture into a prepared baking tin anf bake at 170 degrees for 30 minutes, until only just set. Take it out when there is still a wobble in the middle - this will result in the sticky gooey texture I was raving about!!
Leave to cool on a wire rack before turning out of the tin.
Dig in!!!

It isn’t decorated with anything; no frills, no frosting, nothing, and honestly – it’s at its best this way. The texture is too delicate to sustain any buttercream, and the flavour of the almonds with the chocolate really shines and would be completely overwhelmed by any heavy frosting.

I don’t think this is a special occasion cake, it’s more of an ‘I need a cup of tea and a treat’ type of cake. It’s not decadent and fancy, but humble and utterly satisfying, enjoy!!

A slice of the traditional, a slice of Bakewell!!

Let me begin by saying, I love chocolate. When you need a chocolate fix nothing else will do, no matter how tasty it is. But let’s be honest here, chocolate can get a bit boring after a while and recently I have found myself all chocolate-ed out. So as I’ve been looking through my mountain of cook books for ideas and inspiration I’ve vetoed every chocolate based recipe in search of alternative delicious-ness, and this time I settled on a traditional recipe that have never tried before: Bakewell Slice. I was actually kind of horrified to realise that I’d never made this most British and traditional of tasty treats before, but now I’ve remedied that, and it was definitely worth doing!!

I used a Nigella recipe from her Feast book, partly because I adore Mrs. Lawson and every recipe of hers that I’ve ever used has been a success, (probably due to the copious amounts of naughty ingredients that go in to them, and this recipe is no exception!!) and also because the recipe looked so simple and easy!!

Bakewell Slice

Pastry:
225g butter
60g icing sugar
Pinch salt
225g plain flour

Filling:
150g butter
150g ground almonds
150g caster sugar
4 eggs
325g raspberry jam
100g flaked almonds (Nigella says 60g, but I’m a big fan of these so I whacked the whole packet in the pan to toast!)

The pastry is actually more of a shortbread that you squidge into a tray.
Sieve the flour, icing sugar and salt into a mixing bowl, then add the butter (it helps if it’s cubed) then combine with your fingers until it becomes a crumby mixture, just about coming together. Nigella suggests using a food mixer to do this which is even easier!

Then tip the mix out onto a lined baking tray (mine was about 30cm by 25cm and about 1-2cm deep) and patiently push it into an even layer. Nigella admits to using throwaway tin trays for this recipe so I lined my tray with foil rather than greaseproof paper, which I think made the base extra buttery and sumptuous.

Bless Nigella, she warns that this will take some time and you will feel like you don’t have enough pastry (both true) but stick with it and you will end up with plenty of mix to cover the entire tray.

Bake this in the oven at 180 degrees, until it starts to turn a pale golden colour.
Meanwhile toast the almonds in a pan and then make the frangipane filling.

Melt the butter and set aside, and combine the almonds, flour and eggs in a separate mixing bowl. Then add the melted butter to the almond mix gradually, mixing as you go.

Remove the pastry from the oven and allow it to cool for a few minutes before slathering on plenty of jam!

Pour the frangipane mix over the jam then sprinkle with the toasted almonds before putting back in the oven for about 30-35 minutes until it is golden brown.

As a side note, if you toast the almonds fairly close to when you need to sprinkle them, careful of your fingers!! The oil in the nuts gets very hot, so let them cool a little before diving in!!

Allow the giant slice to cool completely before removing from the tray and slicing into whatever size you fancy!!

I iced about a third because it was requested by a certain high maintenance person (you know who you are!). I prefer it un-iced though, I think the sweetness of the icing overpowers the almond flavour and the jam, and in any case, the golden flakes of almond on the spongy soft pillow of frangipane is a far more aesthetically pleasing than plain white icing!!

Nigella never fails me; I’m so so so pleased with this recipe!!! Pressing the pastry in takes a little extra time and effort, but the end result is a light buttery base filled with a sweet and soft almondy delight, perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon with a nice cup of tea!