Tuesday 15 May 2007

Dense chocolate loaf

... it is the essence of all that is desirable in chocolate... - Nigella Lawson

Oh that it is, hoo boy! If you want a chocolately chocolate cake, then this is the one for you! It is truly dense, truly chocolately and yes, truly a loaf. And unlike most cakes, it gets better with a bit of age (well, a day or two) although it rarely lasts that long.
The verdict
Unusual or substituted ingredients: Again with the dark muscovado sugar. Does Nigella have shares in a muscovado sugar factory?? I discovered that CSR now makes "dark brown sugar", which is pretty much exactly what dark muscovado sugar is! Hurrah!

This is the pre-flour and water mix

Special utensils or cookware: None for this cake. I used a handheld mixer to cream the butter and sugar, and then the rest is mixed by hand - somwhat laboriously towards the end - mix in one tablespoon of flour then one tablespoon of hot water, repeat until all flour and water mixed in. Urk. I usually put in 3-4 tablespoons at a time, or else it would take an hour to mix the cake! Do make sure you grease, flour and line your loaf tin though - it is a fairly sticky cake. This is the post flour and water mixture

Repeatability: A big tick on this one - I've made this cake quite a few times, in fact I think it is probably my most-made recipe from HTBADG (followed closely by these). It is the perfect chocolate lover's cake, and very easily transportable (fits my rectangular tupperware container perfectly) and delicious on its own or with berries and cream or ice-cream. I haven't tried it spread with cream cheese as Nigella suggests, but I imagine this could be quite the taste sensation!
Sauciness: Oh yes. Yes yes yes yes yes!
Overall pleasure level: It's a 10. Yes, my first 10! (see sauciness!)