The recipe for this squidgy chocolate cake was given to me by a friend, who found the original, handwritten version in an old recipe book that belonged to her great grandmother. So not technically my experiment, but someone's experiment none-the-less! The original recipe called for “a block of black molasses sugar ground until fine” and orange flower water as the flavouring.
Here’s the slightly modernised version (no grinding involved!), with added chocolate chips ...
To make a 9” cake you will need:
15 oz molasses sugar or dark muscovado sugar
9 oz salted butter or margarine (if using butter, remove it from the refrigerator to soften)
15 oz molasses sugar or dark muscovado sugar
9 oz salted butter or margarine (if using butter, remove it from the refrigerator to soften)
2 x large free-range eggs (beaten lightly, not whisked)
1 x tsp vanilla essence (or coffee essence, or if you want to stick with the original flavouring, orange flower water)
4 oz quality, non-cooking plain chocolate (melted) – Green & Black’s or Lindt 70% minimum cocoa solids is ideal
8 oz plain flour
1 x tsp bicarbonate of soda
9 fluid oz boiling water
4 oz dark chocolate chips
Line a deep, 9” cake or loaf tin with non-stick baking paper (essential!) and pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt chocolate in a bowl placed in a pan of boiling water. Cream butter and sugar together. Add beaten eggs and vanilla – mix well, but no need to get it airy. Add melted chocolate and mix. In a separate bowl, mix together the bicarbonate of soda and flour and put boiling water in a jug.
Now … add 1 x TBSP of hot water to the chocolate mixture, mix, and then add 1 x TBSP of the flour/bicarbonate and mix – continue in this way until all is incorporated into the chocolate mixture. You will end up with what looks like a smooth chocolate batter. DON’T PANIC – it’s supposed to look like this! Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour mixture into cake/loaf tine and bake for 30 minutes at 400 F, then place a sheet of foil over the top of the cake (to stop it burning), turn oven down to 375 F, and bake for a further 15-20 minutes. Stick a skewer into the centre of the cake and it should come out slightly sticky – this means that the cake is cooked. Take out of oven and leave to cool COMPLETELY before removing it from the tin. It will sink a bit – this is normal.
The cake is best stored for a couple of days in an airtight tin (like gingerbread) before eating. Ensure that you do not tell anyone else where you have put it, or there will be none left for you!
There is no need to ice this cake - it really is best served on its own, or with cream and raspberries.
