me and chocolates

I love chocolate. Probably you can call me a chocolic or cocoalic, whatever. I just love the taste of good chocolate lingers on my palate even it was eaten even a quarter of hour ago.

Most cakes I've made is chocolate cakes, either for light afternoon tea to elegant desserts. I also often make chocolate truffles as after-dinner coffee when we have a grand dinner. I made 200 truffles for Christmas last year, and I don't know if everyone will miss them after I've served big balls of truffles to enjoy last birthday dinner.


I've been developing to love David Herbert's The Perfect Cookbook. It's not easy to find a good cookbook which works every time. I find that any recipe in his book is easy to follow and uses simple ingredients. I love his fudgy chocolate cake (p.40.). It's rich with a hint of nuts.

Yesterday, I desired to modify his recipe to something more spongy than fudgy. The result is not too sweet, not too rich, for me it is just right. Omitting the use of nuts helping the sponge rises high. I ice the cake with coffee icing.

Mocha Chocolate Cake
Original recipe: Chocolate Cake (p.40) by David Herbert: the perfect cookbook
Modified by me.

225g dark cooking chocolate
250g unslated butter
1 1/2 tsp coffee powder
10 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup Self-Rising Flour
20g cocoa powder
20g cornflour

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 22cm springform cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Melt the butter, chocolate and coffee powder in a heavybased saucepan, stir until smooth. Set aside to cool. Beat the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Pour 3/4 of the chocolate mixture gradually in thin stream until all mixed well into the egg batter, reserve the rest of chocolate mixture for icing. Fold in the sifted flours and cocoa powder carefully, mix well. Pour into the cake in and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Icing:
1/4 portion of the reserved coffee-chocolate mixture
3 Tbs icing sugar
hot water

Beat all together until well blended and add hot water little by little until the mixture is fluffy with thinner consistency. Spread all over the cake.