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When I was little I received Roald Dahl’s ‘Revolting Recipes’ which had all sorts of brilliant recipes such as lick-able wallpaper and Baked Alaska with warm ice cream, but one recipe which always stood out was the mean feast that was Bruce Bogtrotter’s Chocolate fudge cake. Well, you’ve probably guessed from my title that I haven’t made that cake (probably due to the fact I couldn’t find the book!) but I have made what I think is a good equivalent!

This delicious chocolate recipe has been created by Angela Nilsen and it had hundreds of positive reviews so I thought I better try it out. I used to always make cakes with either Cadbury’s or quite often with the plain cooking one from whichever supermarket I was shopping in. However, sometimes you just need to use a good quality chocolate and in this case I used Lindt 70% (which I can’t get enough of at the moment!) and one bar of Bourneville. I chose Cadbury’s Bourneville mainly for price reasons as it was slightly cheaper but I don’t think it made much difference to the taste of the cake.

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I had all my ingredients laid out and was about to start when I opened the butter tub and realised I only had 50g left. This was rather annoying but it didn’t put me off, rather luckily for me I had my fella over so I sent him off to the shops to buy some more! He first popped back with Utterly Butter so I sent him back to get some proper butter. I don’t think he was too pleased but he got it anyway. I’m usually not overly fussy when it comes to ingredients as you can make minor adjustments but I think you have to be a bit particular when it comes to butter. A few years ago I went to a cupcake decorating class at The Make Lounge and the tutor really enforced how important butter is in cakes and since then I have noticed a big difference in what you use.

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  A few tips I will share before you begin. I find melting chocolate in the bowl and saucepan the best method however if choosing to melt it in the microwave, only heat it for 20 seconds at a time. Take it out and stir it with a wooden spoon and keep doing it until it becomes nice and smooth. If you do it for any longer than 20 seconds the chocolate may curdle and become all hard and unusable.

Also the mixture can have quite a strong coffee flavour but this is not as powerful once the cake is baked so if you’re slightly concerned about putting coffee in the mixture, don’t worry, it just gives it a lovely kick!

I hope this helps and have fun baking this fabulous chocolate cake but most importantly enjoy eating it! I have since found my copy of ‘Revolting Recipe’s’ so I may just have an excuse to be trying out another chocolate cake again soon!

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Ingredients

 200g good quality dark chocolate , about 60% cocoa solids

200g butter

1 tbsp instant coffee granules

85g self-raising flour

85g plain flour

1⁄4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

200g light muscovado sugar

200g golden caster sugar

25g cocoa powder

3 medium eggs

75ml buttermilk (5 tbsp)

grated chocolate or curls, to decorate

 

For the Ganache

 200g good quality dark chocolate , as above

284ml carton double cream (pouring type)

2 tbsp golden caster sugar

Method

 1.      Butter a 20cm round cake tin (7.5cm deep) and line the base. Preheat the oven to fan 140C/conventional 160C/ gas 3. Break 200g good quality dark chocolate in pieces into a medium, heavy-based pan. Cut 200g butter into pieces and tip in with the chocolate, then mix 1 tbsp instant coffee granules into 125ml cold water and pour into the pan. Warm through over a low heat just until everything is melted – don’t overheat. Or melt in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time, take it our and stir it until nice and smooth.

2.      While the chocolate is melting, mix 85g self-raising flour, 85g plain flour, ¼ bicarbonate of soda, 200g light muscovado sugar, 200g golden caster sugar and 25g cocoa powder in a big bowl, mixing with your hands to get rid of any lumps. Beat 3 medium eggs in a separate bowl and stir in 75ml (5 tbsp) buttermilk.

3.      Now pour the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until everything is well blended and you have a smooth, quite runny consistency. Pour this into the tin and bake for 1 hour 25- 1 hour 30 minutes – if you push a skewer in the centre it should come out clean and the top should feel firm (don’t worry if it cracks a bit). Leave to cool in the tin (don’t worry if it dips slightly), then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

4.      When the cake is cold, cut it horizontally into three (In my case I cut into two but it’s entirely up to you). Make the ganache: chop 200g good quality dark chocolate into small pieces and tip into a bowl. Pour a 284ml carton of double cream into a pan, add 2 tbsp golden caster sugar, and heat until it is about to boil. Take off the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.

5.      Sandwich the layers together with just a little of the ganache. Pour the rest over the cake letting it fall down the sides and smoothing to cover with a palette knife. Decorate with grated chocolate or a pile of chocolate curls. The cake keeps moist and gooey for 3-4 days.

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