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Archive for August, 2010

Messy chocolate fun on a rainy summer’s day!

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Easy to make chocolate cake for children

Ella and Becky's Messy Chocolate Cake

Overall, we are having a pretty decent summer here on the South Coast. We are pretty lucky to have had quite a lot of sunshine so far (I’ve even managed to top up the Ibiza tan this week!), but there have been some stormy and rainy days and with the kids off school, making chocolate and baking has been an absolute godsent!

My 10 year old daughter Ella has a real passion for baking and she and our neighbour Becky have been busy conjuring up recipes and using my raw cacao ingredients wherever a recipe calls for chocolate or cocoa powder.

Last Monday was a particularly rainy day and the girls decided they wanted to get messy in the kitchen and made the most delicious Messy Chocolate Fudge cake!

Here is the recipe Ella and Becky made all by themselves!

Ella and Becky’s Messy Chocolate Fudge Cake

Ingredients

2tsp Sunflower Oil
250g (8oz) Self-Raising Flour
6tbsp CHOC Chick Raw Cacao Powder
2rsp Baking Powder
300g (100oz) Butter
300g (10oz) Unrefined Brown Sugar or 200g Sweet Freedom or Agave
2tsp Vanilla Bean Extract
6 Large Eggs
2 20cm (8in) Round Cake Tins

For the Messy Frosting

100g (3.5oz) CHOC Chick Raw Cacao Butter
50g (1.75oz) CHOC Chick Raw Cacao Powder
3-4tbs Sweet Freedom
150ml (1/2 pint) Double Cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 170 C, 325 F, Gas mark 3. Cut round circles of greaseproof paper and place over the baking tin bases.

2. Brush sunflower oil over the inside of the tin and the greaseproof paper.

3. Sift the flour, cacao and baking powder into a bowl. Place another larger bowl onto a damp dishcloth.

4. Place the butter and sugar/Sweet Freedom into this empty bowl and beat together until creamy. Add the vanilla and beat some more.

5. Crack 1 egg into a cup. Add it to the bowl with 1 tablespoon of flour. Beat well and repeat with each egg.

6. Stir in the rest of the flour gently using a metal spoon and moving the spoon in the shape of a number eight (this keeps the mixture light).

7. Pour the mixture into the two cake tins. Place in the middle shelf of the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes (fan overs will take less time).

8. Remove carefully from the oven (don’t forget to wear oven gloves!) and leave to cool for around 5 minutes. When a bit cooler, run a knife around the sides of each tin and turn each tin upside down over a wire rake, peel the paper off and leave to cool some more.

9. For the Messy Frosting – melt the raw cacao butter in a bowl over a pan of hot water (bain marie) on a low heat.

10. When the cacao butter has melted, add the raw cacao powder and the 3 tbsp of Sweet Freedom and mix well with a metal balloon whisk. Taste to see if sweet enough and add an extra tbsp of Sweet Freedom for a sweeter taste.

11. Once the raw chocolate has melted, add cream and mix well.

12. Remove from heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Place in the fridge to cool for around 15 minutes and stir the frosting occasionally to thicken.

13. Once the frosting has thickened (a bit like soft butter), spread a third of the icing on one cake and put the other cake on top. Cover the top and sides with lots and lots of messy frosting and enjoy!!

Adapted with thanks from “Usborne Cookery School Cooking for Beginners” book.