Chocolate (what else?!) and Hazelnut Easter Cake

I'll create any excuse to make a cake really - but its nice to push the culinary boat out every once in a while. This is really delicious it also happens to be gluten free. Take care when folding in all of the 'air added' ingredients and you'll end up with a really light cake. Topping it with chocolate turns this cake into a delicious giant gianduja experience.
I took this recipe from Bake by Rachel Allen, making a few tweaks of my own. I used a 7 1/2 inch loose bottom tin, greased and lined with parchment paper.

Ingredients:
200g (skin on) hazelnuts
1 tsp GF baking powder
100g softened butter
2 tbsp cocoa powder
5 eggs separated into two bowls
150g castor sugar
pinch of salt

1- Preheat fan oven to 160C.
2- Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor. I ground them as fine as my machine would allow me catching it just before it started to turn into hazelnut butter! Tip into a bowl and stir through the baking powder and cocoa powder before creaming in the butter.
3- With a hand held mixer whip the egg yolks and sugar until it becomes thick and mousse-y and the mixer leaves a trail. Carefully fold this into the hazelnut mixture.
4- Add the pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk to stiff peak stage. Carefully fold this into the nut mixture in three stages.
5- Pour into the tin, giving it a few taps to even the surface. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
6- Allow it to cool on cooling rack for about 20 minutes before removing from the tin. Then allow it to cool completely before adding the icing.

Ganache ingredients
100g 85% chocolate, broken into pieces
100ml cream
knob of butter
squeeze of honey (about 1/2 tbsp)

1- Heat the cream in a stainless steel pot over a gentle heat. Remove from heat just before it reaches boiling point.
2- Add the chocolate, butter and honey and allow to sit. The heat of the cream will melt the chocolate.
3- After 5-10 minutes stir everything together and allow to cool slightly before generously smearing the cake with the icing and licking the spoon clean.

easter time = cake time

not that I need much of an excuse to make a cake ... its still nice to go all out for the occasions. at least there was one of our five a day nestled in there between the chocolate ganache and double cream.

A brilliant little blog

Is there anything better in the world than the combination of food and literature?
check it out Eat This Poem.

Easter Cake!

My Easter Simnel Cake! Spiced cherry and chocolate chip sponge with chocolate marzipan.

Birthday Cake Joy!

birthday = birthday cake. presents are great but for me its all about the cake. this one was for ollie and her birthday celebrations. the cake was preceded by lunch in ten fourteen, where i had the most amazing sea bass. really good food and a really good cause : www.restaurant1014.com . thank you mr. and mrs. lyes!

yoghurt and lemon cake (adapted from a darina allen recipe)

200g self raising flour
4 eggs
225g natural yoghurt
200g golden castor sugar
110ml flavourless oil (i used groundnut oil)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest 1 lemon
8" cake tin

to dress the cake:
blueberries
whipped cream
lemon curd

- whisk the eggs and add in the yoghurt, vanilla essence and zest.
- next sift the flour in and add the sugar. then add the oil in one steady stream, mixing thoroughly.
- pour into the tin and bake for about an hour in a 180 oven. (it might take longer or shorter depending on the oven. its done when a cake tester or knife, tested in the centre of the cake, comes out clean.)
- when the cake cooled i spread a generous layer of lemon curd on the top, then covered it in whipped cream. topping it off with fresh blueberries.

the big cut:

the mammy day!

So my spring inspired food buzz continues. And it was well appointed for Mother’s Day. Mam’s, well they’re pretty great. Mine certainly is. I suppose it’s only now as I get older that I appreciate her more and more. The headaches, the sacrifice, the craziness, one year blending into the next in a sea of music lessons, ballet, clubs, day trips ……..

As a small token of gratitude for the mammy and on the special mammy day of the year (not that I limit my displays of gratitude to one day of the year you understand) but I suppose it’s a good excuse to go all out. And in my family the reasoning for most things is ’any excuse for a party’…..

I designed a little ‘heralding of spring and sun shine’ menu. I thought I would serve the meal with a new world Chardonnay. I thought a nice tropical fruit, medium body offering would complement the meal quite nicely. Then Dad and his wine ways knocked me out of the park with his ‘06 Grand Vin de Bourgogne Macon-Uchizy. It went it well enough …. I suppose!!! My Chilian offering followed quite meekly behind it.



Here was the menu

Starter: Gaspacho served with a cucumber and mint brioche sandwich

Main: Hake with coriander and prosciutto served with an orange, feta and toasted pine nut salad.

Desert: Beetroot and chocolate cake.



What? Yes you read that right. Beetroot and chocolate cake. I was just as surprised as you are. My first sampling was in Geneva. Made by the fair hand of Nicole; the sister of lovely Lara. It was of course presented and a guessing game of name the ingredients ensued. Of course I couldn’t name the elusive ingredient and I won’t lie, I nearly fell off the chair when it was revealed. I had to try making it myself.

Nicole served hers with a very yummy lemon cream cheese frosting which cut through the richness of the cake nicely. I however miscalculated my cream cheese and used it all up in the brioche sandwiches and so I served my cake topped with flowers!



Here’s my recipe. (You will note the very low fat content, so feel free to eat twice as much!)




Chocolate and Beetroot fudge cake.



250g dark chocolate

3 eggs

250g light muscovado sugar

½ teaspoon Vanilla Essence (I used the one with seeds in it)

4 tablespoons honey

80g self raising flour, sifted if your feeling extravagant!

pinch of salt

50g ground almonds

250g cooked beetroot, grated (NOT IN VINEGAR! very NB)

splash of strong coffee

some melted butter (to taste, but can probably be left out altogether. I put in about ½ an ounce)



1. preheat fan oven to 140 and grease a tin (I used the only one I have, a bread loaf tin!)

2. melt the chocolate and allow to cool.

3. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, essence and honey with an electric whisk until they’re lightened in colour and are a bit fluffy. About 2-3 minutes.

4. Gently fold in the flour, ground almonds and salt until fully incorporated.

5. Dap the grated (or whizzed up with a food processor) beetroot with kitchen paper to remove some of the excess liquid. Fold in the beetroot, cooled chocolate, coffee and butter (if adding) until fully incorporated.

6. Pour the mixture in your tin. Put in the oven for an hour. After that cover it with tinfoil and put it back in the oven for another 40-50 minutes. Keep an eye on it at this point. If you feel like it needs longer than keep it in there! Though it’s a fudge cake and will be moist anyway. I allowed it to cool a bit and served it straight from the tin. While I insisted everyone play the guess the ingredients game.