Raspberry Chocolate Cake

At the request of very manly rowers, I bring you: Raspberry Chocolate Cake.

This cake is best eaten after working out profusely.

Raspberry Chocolate Cake

The Cake
Recipe adapted from BBC Food

• 100g unsalted butter
• 150g light soft brown sugar
• 100g caster sugar
• 50ml/2fl oz sunflower oil
• 30g cocoa
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 medium eggs
• 100ml/3.5fl oz thick double cream
• 300g cake flour
• 3 tsps baking powder
• 1/2 bar Divine 70% Dark Chocolate And Raspberries

The Filling

• 200ml/7fl oz thick double cream
• 100g cream cheese
• 1/2 bar Divine 70% Dark Chocolate And Raspberries
• 20g icing sugar
• handful dessicated coconut
• 2 punnets fresh raspberries

Let's get started.

Pre-heat your oven to 180C/350F.  Melt the butter in a saucepan (or microwave... I know some of us like to roll student-style), and add sugars, oil, cocoa, and vanilla.  Mix thoroughly.  Make sure it is still hot (not boiling), and add in 1/2 bar of Divine Chocolate and Raspberry bar.  It's easiest to break up this 1/2 bar into little pieces, so they melt quicker.  Stir until batter is smooth.

When batter is smooth, add the eggs.  Beat well.  Mix in the double cream and baking soda.  Finally, add the flour in small increments, to prevent lumps.  If you have a flour sifter, this is a great time to use it.  As a poor rogue University student, I do not.  But, life goes on.  

The batter should be thick, but easily flowing off the spoon.

Bake for 30 minutes covered with foil, then another 20 minutes uncovered.  Remove and let cool.  Slice in half once cool.

For the icing, again heat the double cream.  Break the other 1/2 of the Divine bar into pieces, and stir until thoroughly incorporated.  Add a handful of raspberries to the still-heated mixture - mash them with your stirring spoon, and mix well.  When the mixture has slightly cooled, add the 100g of cream cheese and handful of desiccated coconut.  Blend well, then stick in the fridge for 30 minutes to solidify.  

You've sliced your chocolate cake in half.  Hopefully better than I have.  I seem to have a nice little slope at one end... but don't you worry, we'll hide that.

Spoon the icing onto the bottom slice, starting from the middle and working outwards.  Stop about 1/2 inch from the edge.  

Get bad with your creative self and add those raspberries.  

Smoosh the top slice as elegantly as possible onto the bottom.

Dust icing sugar over top.

Unfortunately, my cake had to be heaved delicately placed back into its metal cooking tin, in order to be transported to the boathouse.  But I'm sure yours will look oh-so-much-better sitting out in the open.

Raspberry peek-a-boo!

Edit: Made this cake at 6:30PM.  Realized that I had frosting on my forehead at 10:30PM.  For the win.

CHOCOLATE

Thanks for the page view love, guys.  Means a lot that you care about my dry humour, delicious bread and heart-attack-inducing food.  Keep it coming.

So, Keir visited yesterday, and it was decided that we should make an epic chocolate concoction to celebrate this 2000+ page view mark.  First we thought of replicating a recipe that my best friend and I from the states made last year (slutty brownies), which consists of layers of fudge brownie, chocolate cookie dough and oreos.

However, being lazy, we decided to opt for Rocky Road brownies.  Off to my neighborhood Tesco and Co-Operative we went... only to find that NEITHER HAD COCOA POWDER.  What is this treachery, small food stores?  I had to cave to my worst fear: a boxed mix.

But don't you worry, I doctored it up so it didn't taste like cardboard crap.

Rocky Road Brownies

The Brownies:

• 1 box of Betty Crocker's Fudge Brownie Mix
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tbsp light-colored oil (light olive oil, veg oil, etc)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 8 squares of cooking chocolate, crumbled

The Toppings:

• 2 handfuls of small marshmallows
• 2 handfuls of crushed walnuts
• 2 handfuls of slivered almonds
• 1 crushed KitKat chunky peanut butter (... totally Keir's idea, guys)

Optional Drizzle:

• 1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
• 1 tbsp icing sugar
• 2 tbsp milk (or more - forgot to count... just until it gets drizzle consistency)

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F.

Mix the brownie ingredients together, adding the chopped/smooshed chocolate pieces last.  

Thanks for being such a good hand model, Keir.

Pour into either a greased round baking tin or a square/rectangle glass pan.  Add the toppings one by one, saving the marshmallows for last.  

Bake for roughly 30-35 minutes, or until the thing doesn't "wobble" when you shake the tray.  Sticking a fork into the middle to check if it's done won't work, seeing as these are extremely fudgy brownies... 

This brownie is NOT sponsored by Newton, the Power of Ideas.  It should be though.

Fudgy brownies = the best kind.  The only kind, really.