I
know I have been away for quite a while and so much has happened since I last
updated this blog!
I
have been handed my 5 week notice from the Civil Service and am looking to find
a new job asap. Although I knew this was
coming for a little while now it still feels as though you’ve just walked into
a glass wall. You know, that shocking impact that comes out of nowhere and
leaves a bewildered and slightly quizzical look on your face.
Being handed your notice is like having the
ground fall out from under your feet.
You feel queasy and sick. You feel
as if things don’t seem right or taste right and you feel very very
scared. I’m an optimist for the most
part and believe everything happens for a reason but those first few days after
being told the news were unpleasant to put it mildly.
So
although I have put my head down and have been applying for jobs virtually
non-stop for the past couple of months I have to admit I have found a lot of
solace in baking when I’ve had the time to do it.
This
cake has been in the ‘idea section’ of my notes/favourites folder for a long
time. I like the taste of liquorice; it’s
almost like a sharper sweeter version of cinnamon but without cinnamons
complexity. Almost a single note
sweetness which I feel cuts through the taste of chocolate very well. I’ve tried this combination before with my
Upside Down Chocolate Plum and Aniseed Cake, where I paired the chocolate and
plums with star anise, so I know that the chocolate/liquorice combo works well.
Instead
of using star anise this time though I used a liquorice bar which I chopped up
and melted down in water which was then added to the cake. I found a chocolate cake recipe which used a
lot of water in the batter in order to achieve this.
The
Easy Chocolate Cake recipe is one I’ve used many times. True to its name, you just dunk all the
ingredients into a bowl and mix, then mix in the water at the end. I was thinking of trying this with mint
leaves where you boil the water with fresh/dried mint and add to the
recipe instead of mint flavouring – I wonder if the mint flavour will be strong
enough to show up in the chocolate cake though...
Anyway
the cake was lovely and soft with a nice dense fudgy texture but not too
heavy. It cut very well and the ganache
goes very well with it. Unfortunately the
liquorice flavour wasn’t as strong as I expected it to be so I would definitely
increase the liquorice from one bar to two bars. Saying that though, the liquorice flavour
seemed to get stronger on the 3rd day (yes there was still some left
over on day 3 – you only need a little slice to satisfy your chocolate craving)
so the flavour somehow developed and deepened.
I would still increase the liquorice though and I’ve included the
modification in the recipe below.
·
225g plain flour
·
350g caster sugar
·
85g cocoa powder
·
1 ½ tsp baking powder
·
1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
·
2 free range eggs
·
250ml milk
·
125ml vegetable oil
·
2 tsp vanilla extract
·
250 ml boiling water
·
2 bars liquorice, chopped up (I used
Panda All Natural Soft Liquorice Bar)
Preheat
oven to 180 C, prepare two 8” round baking tins.
Boil
the water with chopped liquorice until all the liquorice is dissolved. Pour into a measuring jug and top up to
250ml again as some water will have evaportated.
In
a large bowl, beat all the ingredients except the flavoured hot water until
well mixed.
Gradually
add the boiling water until mixed in smoothly.
The batter will be very watery.
Divide
the batter between the two tins and bake for about 30-35 minutes. The cakes will be done when a skewer inserted
into the centre comes out clean.
Allow
to cool before icing.
Chocolate
Ganache
·
200ml double cream
·
200g dark chocolate (I used Callebaut
Fortina 65% dark chocolate)
Heat
the cream until it just comes to a simmer and is heated through – don’t allow
it to boil.
Pour
the hot cream over the chocolate and leave alone for at least a minute.
With
a whisk, gently start moving the
mixture in small circles until you see a deep chocolate stain form, after which
mix the whole until it is a uniform deep chocolate colour. Don’t mix more than you need to.
Leave
the ganache covered to cool down and become spreadable.
Ice
the two halves of the cake together.
Add
some dark chocolate curls for decoration (again mines were from Callebaut - just saying for information sake, no product placement intended!).
