I feel like I'm on a roll now; having visits and visitors is giving me plenty of excuses to bake things, so I finally feel like I'm making progress again. This one was baked especially for my chocolate-loving friend Abbie, and the book states that this will become my favourite chocolate cake recipe. I have to say that it did live up to expectations, and was so much better than the chocolate Victoria Sandwich I made (which barely tasted of chocolate!). The recipe was very straightforward, starting with mixing some cocoa powder (quite a lot actually) with hot water, and then piling the rest of the sponge ingredients in, as per the all-in-one method Mary seems to favour. It was destined to be a very moist cake by the inclusion of the water and some milk. 2 fluid ounces of milk was required, and because it was such a small amount, and I'm used to measuring milk in baby bottles these days, that's just what I used! It seemed especially apt considering the eaters of the cake and the occasion: a meeting of mums and babies!
The cake needed to be baked for the usual 25-30 minutes, and I took it out of the oven thinking I'd rather it was just baked than over-baked. Chocolate cakes have a habit of 'catching' and then tasting unpleasantly bitter around the edges if they're baked for that little bit too long. So, the cake was very straightforward; the icing was a little bit more problematic. Not that it was difficult, just a question of melting some chocolate over a pan, with double cream. It was the waiting for it to cool that was the nuisance, and I ended up putting it in the fridge so I didn't have to wait until midnight to ice the cake. It needed to be almost setting; I almost let it set too much, but a quick stir sorted it out and it was very easy to spread. I'd been good and passed the apricot jam through a sieve before spreading it on the cake; the chocolate icing went on without any crumb or lump issues as a result. I dropped a clanger by icing and assembling it on the cooling rack and then struggled to lift it onto the base of the storage thingy - it was a really heavy cake! I managed to transfer it onto a nice plate the next day, but care is needed.
Baker's verdict: A really easy cake to make, and very tasty. The best, no-fuss chocolate cake I've baked so far. Rich, but not sickly, probably because plain chocolate is used. I also think the apricot jam helps with this.
Husband rating: 10/10 - as good a chocolate cake as you'll ever have. Quite a simple chocolate cake but lovely and moist; rich chocolatey icing; not too sweet and very moreish. I prefer the Brownies, but I'd still give it a 10. A perfectly executed cake.
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