Cakes, bakes and soggy bottoms

The last week has been a busy one - there are a lot of March birthdays in my (extended) family. Summer lovin’ my husband always says! As the baker of the household I've been doing rather a lot of cooking, of all kinds, this week. Favourite meal (lasagna), favourite cake (triple chocolate) and finally a big family pudding to feed 10.

The cake recipe is my version of one that I found a few years ago in the Guardian. I can’t find the original recipe that I adapted it from, but I do remember that it had a lot more sugar in it! We always joke that it must be good for you as it’s gluten free, but seriously, this much chocolate. . . well, it’s great for special occasions, let’s just put it that way. Here’s my recipe - it’s really very easy, and as it’s flourless and doesn’t rise much, so it’s very dense and gooey.

150g butter

200g dark chocolate

5 eggs

150g granulated sugar

160g ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder

1/2tsp vanilla essence

100g chopped up milk chocolate

Your choice of chocolate icing, and/or chocolate decorations!

Line 22cm cake tin, and grease with melted butter. Put the oven on 180 degrees or gas mark 4.

Melt the butter and dark chocolate in a bain marie/microwave or over a very low heat. Stir to combine.

Put the eggs, sugar, almonds, baking powder and vanilla essence in a bowl, and add the melted chocolate mixture.

Use an electric mixer on medium for two minutes to combine thoroughly. Stir in chopped milk chocolate with a spatula.

Pour into prepared tin and cook for about 25 minutes. The top will be cracked (like a brownie top).

If you want another, more grown up, excellent chocolate cake, here’s another recipe that I use and love.

Meanwhile, on Sunday for Mother’s Day I offered to make the pudding for a family get together. Rather than my fall back crumble, I thought I’d do a pastry recipe…. There’s a great one in Hugh F-W’s Three Good Things, which is not a pretty shortcrust tart, more your freeform style, which I prefer! You make the shortcrust pastry, macerate some fruit, roll out the chilled pastry, dump the fruit on top in the middle, and then sort of pull up the pastry around the edges to hold it in. Easy peasy. But - very juicy. Driving to my sister-in-law’s house resulted in the juice leaking, all over me so I had a soggy (and sticky) bottom by the time we reached her house. Luckily the tart, though slightly soggy (this is the edible tart, not me) was very tasty indeed.You can find the recipe online here.