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Chocolate cake (nigella) |
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for the cake This cake is the epitome of easy: no one will believe that you made it yourself and will look at you as if you are a mysterious cake goddess who bathes in batter. Firstly, heat the oven to 356°F/180°C and butter one of those spring-sided cake tins (8"/20 cm diameter) and line the bottom with baking parchment. Then boil the kettle. Sieve flour, cocoa and a pinch of salt together into a big bowl - put this to one side for now. Sludge the butter, condensed milk, chocolate (broken into pieces) and sugar along with 3 1/2 fl.oz./100 ml of just-boiled water into a pan and heat gently until melted and smooth. When this has happened, pour the chocolatey goo onto the flour-cocoa mixture and beat together (I prefer to use an electric mixer for this as I am weak beyond belief). So mix all this together until glossily amalgamated, then buzz in the beaten eggs. Slick all this into your waiting tin, scooping the tenacious dregs with a spatula (into your mouth). Put it into the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes. It should be slightly cracked across the top, and still gooey on the inside when taken out of the oven. The top should feel firm though. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes before easing out your creation onto a wire rack to cool further. This is the difficult bit: when cool, cut in half horizontally. (Best to lean extremely to the side weilding a breadknife). You'll find the inside may be soft: this means your cake will be extra tasty and fudgy. So to make the 'ganache': break your chocolate into a bowl; pour the cream into a small pan and heat until almost boiling. Pour this over the chocolate, let settle for a minute, then attack with an electric mixer (or very strong arm), whizzing until smooth and glossy and thickish. Take a great ladel-ful of this mixture and droop into the cut side of one half your cake. Smooth this over so it's even.Then plonk the other half of cake on top of this, and decorously drench the top of the cake with the remainder of the ganache. Use a palette knife to ensure the sides are covered. Leave your cake to set for a few hours, or over night - and enjoy! |
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