Chocolate Cake
Ingredients for the chocolate cake mixture
150g/6 oz butter
150g/6 oz caster sugar, plus another 50g/2 oz for meringue
7 eggs, separated
175g/7 oz dark Fairtrade chocolate, melted
125g/5 oz self-raising flour, sifted
Ingredients for the buttercream
100g/4 oz butter, softened
175g/7 oz icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon of Fairtrade ground coffee, or 1½ teaspoons of Fairtrade instant coffee
Method for the chocolate cake • Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F/ Gas Mark 5. • Grease and line the base of a deep 23cm/9 inch round cake tin. • Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in egg yolks one at a time, and then stir in the melted Maya Gold chocolate. • Whisk egg whites until stiff, then fold in sugar to make meringue. • Alternately fold in flour and meringue to the chocolate mix. • Transfer mix to tin and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the cake is firm to touch and a skewer can be withdrawn cleanly. • Leave to cool in the tin, then transfer to a cooling rack until cold. • Split cake in half and fill with Fairtrade coffee buttercream.
Method for the buttercream • Infuse the ground coffee in a tablespoon of boiled water, then strain; or dissolve the instant coffee in half a teaspoon of boiling water. • Beat the butter until light and fluffy. • Add the icing sugar to the mix a little at the time, beating well in between. • Gradually beat in the coffee.
Method
This great little recipe is taken from my Little Book Of Big Treats which I've put together exclusively for Comic Relief. All you have to do is bake a few of these and sell them to your friends, family, colleagues or schoolmates and you'll have raised an extra few quid for Comic Relief and their brilliant causes. What could be easier?
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Line a 25cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate and mix until smooth. Add the cherries and nuts, if you’re using them, and stir together. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate, cherry and nut mixture. Stir together well. Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency.
Pour your brownie mix into the baking tray, and place in the oven for around 25 minutes. You don’t want to overcook them so, unlike cakes, you don’t want a skewer to come out all clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle. Allow to cool in the tray, then carefully transfer to a large chopping board and cut into chunky squares. These make a fantastic dessert served with a dollop of crème fraîche mixed with some orange zest.
Ingredients
• 250g unsalted butter
• 200g dark Fairtrade chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken up
• optional: 75g dried sour cherries
• optional: 50g chopped nuts
• 80g cocoa powder, sifted
• 65g plain flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 360g Fairtrade caster sugar
• 4 large free-range or organic eggs
• optional: zest of 1 Fairtrade orange
• optional: 250ml crème fraîche
Chocolate –
Fairtrade milk chocolate ingredients
100% Organic milk chocolate made from: cane sugar*, whole milk powder, cocoa butter*, cocoa mass*, hazelnuts, vanilla*. Cocoa: 38% min. May contain traces of almonds and peanuts. *Fairtrade Certified. Fairtrade ingredients: 69%. Certified by Bio.Inspecta SCESp006.
FAIRTRADE INGREDIENTS 97%
NUTRITION
100 g contains Energy 2250 KJ (540 kcal), Proteins 9g, Carbohydrates 52g, Fat 34g
DIETARY ADVICE
May contain traces of dairy, hazelnuts, almonds and peanuts. This product is gluten free. Vegetarian approved. 