As many of you have been describing in this food survey, one of the positive things to come out of quarantine is more time to cook and bake! The type of cooking we are doing is also more creative than usual, as some ingredients are harder to come by and as we try to reduce food waste in the kitchen.
Today I’m sharing this simple and quick recipe for a cake that I made using the ingredients in the cupboard, and which also turned out to be incredibly delicious! I made this cake for a birthday, but you don’t need an excuse to eat cake in quarantine!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 200g caster sugar
- 200g unsalted butter
- 200g self-raising flour
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder or hot chocolate (I had some of the latter in the cupboard)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp milk
- 100g chocolate chunks or broken up chocolate bar
- 200g chopped hazelnuts (or anything else you’d like to add – not essential)
For the buttercream
- 100g dark (or milk) chocolate
- 400g icing sugar
- 200g butter or margarine
- Dash of milk
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 190c and grease/use parchment paper for two tins of your choice.
Cream the 200g caster sugar with 200g unsalted butter. Add in the 200g self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tbsp of cocoa powder, 4 eggs, and 2 tbsp of milk, and beat together into a batter. Add in the chocolate chunks and hazelnuts as desired.
Divide the mixture into the two tins evenly and bake for 20 minutes. Leave to cool completely.
For the buttercream, break up the chocolate bar of your choice and put in the microwave (or hob) to melt. Check every 30 seconds so it doesn’t burn, until melted.
Whilst the chocolate is melting, cream the 200g butter with 400 icing sugar until it is smooth, and then pour in the chocolate with a dash of milk.
Use the buttercream as a filling between the two cake halves and spread the rest on the top of the cake. Add whatever decoration you like (e.g. nuts, fruit, or more chocolate!)
Published 10/04/2020
eleanorbarnett.com 