Friday, March 23, 2012

TGIF and chocolate cake for adults

Friday - the hole weekend ahead of me. Ever since I remember Friday evenings were longer than all the other evenings. They're more stretchy, they melt and flow. Get back from work, having the hole evening ahead of me, then a bunch more hours in the couple weekends days to fill. What to do, what to do.....

Just a quick check of emails, speedy tour of cyber news, a glance at my to do at home list and then I'm off to the world of Swedish crime, just a few pages left  before I can start a new journey of another crime novel. The tea is ready, the white chair too....


There is no dessert to go along with the tea, surviving on some swiss chocolates instead, and the the memories of one chocolate cake....

My multiple experiments proved that chocolate is good all year long... The judges? The crowd at work, who never says no to brought the next day half eaten cakes, cookies or muffins. When I entered the office with a bag and a box inside, I see big smiles, still half awake eyes that shine. Then, almost immediately it's coffee time, and what goes better with morning coffee then a slice of deliciousness? Some chocolate recipes are more successful then others but nothing ever lasts all day. And that's exactly how I know how successful the recipe was....

My newest creation was gone is 60 seconds. Never had so much success.... Everything except the last bite - no one ever wants to eat the last piece....



 (picture of just few pieces of cake shortly after it  the big part was devoured. Other pics temporarily unavailable)

Chocolate Cake (for adults)
prep time 35min, baking time 35min

140g of prunes
4tbsp of Kirsch (or other cherry alcohol)
100g of butter
2tbsp of cocao
140g of dark chocolate, chopped (I used one with almonds)
100g og caster sugar
50g of muscovado sugar
4 large eggs (2 with separate eggs/yolks)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
100g of ground almonds
1tbsp of plain flour

1. Heat over to 180C. Gently heat the prunes and cherry alcohol over a low heat until hot. Remove from the heat and leave for about 1 hour or until prunes have absorbed almost all of the liquid. Whizz the prunes and any remaining buzz in a food processor until roughly chopped.
2. Prepare the tin (round, 20cm) - butter and dust with 1tbsp of cocao. Melt the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. When all melted, put aside and cool. Add prunes mix.
3. Combine the sugars, 2 eggs and 2 yolks until pale, thick and double in volume. Fold the chocolate mixture and vanilla into the egg mixture - add ground almonds, flour and remaining cocao.
4. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gently fold into the mixture. Pour all into the tin, bake for 20-25min, or until a light crust has formed. Cool and serve!

As said - a big success. The cake keeps the moisture inside, and the kirch/prune combination is to die for! I call it for adults, because even after the cherry alcohol evaporates, it still leaves a sweet note of cherry ...
The original recipe comes from this months issue of Good Food. It came with a booklet of 40 cakes, so I guess I'm not done with experimenting with chocolate!

4 comments:

  1. Bosko wyglada to ciasto :) I nie wiem czemu ale uwielbiam takie zdjęcia kubkowo - biurkowe :)

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    1. dziekuje. Smakowalo rownie bosko - i wyjatkowo dobrze z kubkiem czegos cieplego :)

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  2. I love adding alcohol to cakes! It gives an extra flavour and aroma and you feel so grown-up when you it a piece ;-) Pozdrawiam ciepło z południowej Francji!

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    1. tak tak - very grown up :) Bardzo tylko dla doroslych! A ja z Genewy pisze wiec prawie rzut beretem!

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