Indulgent Chocolate Cake //

I'm making my sisters wedding cake this year (end of August, eep) and as well as a tiered wedding cake she also wants a chocolate heart shaped cake, so I'm on a mission to find the best darn chocolate cake possible before August!

This was a candidate, as it sounded soooo amazing. It scores pretty highly but I've got a few more recipes up my sleeve before then... tehehe. This one is adapted from book Paris Pastry Club by Fanny Zanotti, who also runs a gorgeous blog called Like A Strawberry Milk. It's very rich, containing lots of chocolate and cream. It's a generous mixture, I got a cake and a small loaf tin out of it, so make sure you have a spare receptacle handy! The baked cake was quite crumbley when cooled, so be careful when handling. It's so rich, it requires no frosting.

Ingredients:

200g plain flour, sieved

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

50g cocoa powder

275g caster sugar

pinch of salt

175g butter

2 eggs

175g 70% dark chocolate, melted

80g double cream

125g boiling water

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170c. Butter a 1 litre loaf tin or 24cm cake tin and line with baking parchment, leaving a 2cm collar above the rim.

2. Mix all the ingredients together (except the boiling water) in a bowl until you have a smooth mixture. Slowly incorporate the boiling water, then pour the batter into your tin/s.

3. Bake for approximately 50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave in the tin for a while to cool, then turn out onto a wire rack.

4. When cold, grate dark chocolate over the top, or dust with icing sugar, and serve with ice cream or cream!

Last weekend I went to Manchester and York, with a little trip on the Hogwarts Express! It was part of Neil's birthday present, as he loves steam trains and I love Harry Potter! It was a most excellent trip and we had a lovely, yet damp, day in York!

Paddling goslings.

York Minister towering above the streets.

We stopped for tea and cake at a lovely little cafe called Me & Mrs Fisher, a tiny but perfectly formed cafe just outside the city walls. They run great sounding craft nights, as well as serve their selection of lovelty cakes. Their website with details can be found here!

Me & Mrs Fisher

In between epic baking and jaunts in the rain, the weather has been nice for a couple of days! I've taken Captain out for some nice walks - he just loves walking through the long grass! He also likes a roll in the grass to cool down! Crossing my fingers for more nice weather this week.

Next week I'm going to London to see some of my best friends and also my favourite band - The Used! Excited is not the word, I've not seen them for over 2 years. Woohoo!