Grown Up Chocolate Cake

Sunday Afternoon Tease

Look at this dark chocolate beauty; a stunner isn't she?  I have delved into the wonderful Delia's Cakes book that I referred to in last Sunday's Afternoon Tease, for this recipe.

The minute I read the recipe and saw the picture, I was hooked.  Almond and dark chocolate are a winning combination in my view.

Now, I should advise you that this cake is a bit of a faff.  It requires you to grate 175 grams of dark chocolate and I found this to be quite time consuming; I did it by hand but I guess you could try it with the attachment on a food processor.   You also need to separate your eggs and fold in the whisked egg whites carefully at the end.  

You know me, I'm a big fan of the bung-it-all-in-together type of recipe, but I had a feeling that this cake might be a bit special and worth the effort.  In fact, good old Delia herself declares this cake to be 'magnificent'.  

Was she worth it?  Yes, I think she was.  I tasted it when it was still warm and can imagine it would do very well as dessert with some chilled pouring cream.  It is most definitely a grown up chocolate cake and not the kind you whiz up for the kids.   The dark chocolate filling and topping give it a subtle bitter edge, but she is also moist and nutty (yes, come on, an 'ooh err missus' is called for here).  The dark chocolate flakes give her a very appealing freckled complexion.  

I would suggest that you make this cake on a Sunday morning whilst listening to The Archers' omnibus with a cup of proper coffee on the go.  

If you would like to try this gorgeous chocolate cake, then you can find the recipe in Delia's Cakes.  

TTFN!  GAL x