Dear reader, as promised I present to you the recipes for chocolate rum cake and the gingery Charmeleon cake.
Chocolate Rum Cake
For the cake:
4.5oz self-raising flour
1.5oz cocoa powder
1tsp baking powder
2-4tbs spiced rum (according to taste)
1tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs
4.5oz softened butter
6oz caster sugar
1oz grated dark chocolate
For the ganache and filling:
500ml double cream
1tb caster sugar
1-2tb spiced rum
2oz grated dark chocolate
Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line two circular cake tins. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, then add the rum and vanilla and mix.
Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder together. Mix the eggs into the butter-sugar mix one by one, adding a spoonful of flour with each egg to prevent curdling. Fold in the rest of the flour etc and when everything is mixed, fold in the chocolate.
Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins, then bake for about 15 minutes or until a skewer/cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the tins, on a wire rack, for about 10 minutes before turning them out onto said rack.
When the cakes are cool, add the sugar and rum to half of the double cream and whisk until it looks like it’d make an excellent substitute for clothing. Spread all over one of the cakes and plonk/place the other on top.
Put the chocolate into a bowl that’s big enough to hold the remaining cream and give you some stirring room. Pour the remaining cream into a saucepan and heat until it’s giving off small wisps of steam. Don’t let it boil! Pour the hot cream onto the chocolate and stir until combined (I like to use a silicone spatula). The ganache will at some point look miserable and gritty – keep going, because about ten seconds after that it looks like melted heaven.
You can either let the ganache cool for a bit before tipping it all over the cake, as I did, or you can let it cool overnight and spread it over the cake, which is still fun, but not as fun as tipping it over, still slightly warm and shiny while you cackle with delight. Maybe that’s just me…
Charmeleon Cake
For the cake:
6oz self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp ground ginger
1tb finely-chopped fresh ginger
6oz caster sugar (1oz could be substituted with ginger syrup, but that depends on how much you like ginger)
4.5oz softened butter
For the ginger syrup, candied ginger and orange peel:
2tbs chopped ginger (think small woodchips)
The peel of one orange – best peeled with a potato-peeler or sharp knife as you want nice big bits about the size of your thumbnail, with none of the white pith
Water and granulated sugar (quantities below)
Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a loaf tin. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ground ginger together. Add the eggs to the butter-sugar mix one by one, adding a spoonful of flour with each egg to prevent curdling. Fold in the rest of the flour and the chopped ginger.
Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for about 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack.
To make the candied orange peel, cover the peel with cold water in a pan, bring to the boil and simmer for ten minutes. Drain and repeat, draina and repeat, then just cover the peel in cold water and add 2oz granulated sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes – don’t let it boil dry. Transfer the peel to a sheet of greaseproof paper and separate the bits out before it all solidifies into a sticky mass.
Do the same for the ginger, but just once and don’t drain it – instead, add 2oz granulated sugar to the water with the ginger still in it. Top up the water if necessary and simmer for another 10 minutes or until the syrup thickens when drizzled onto a cold plate (you should be able to smear it across the plate and feel how sticky it is).
Remove the ginger and put it onto a sheet of greaseproof paper – as with the peel, try to separate it. Decant the syrup into a small jar or jug.
When the cake is cool, insert a cocktail stick at regular intervals into the top, going about 2cm deep. Using a pastry brush, brush the cake with the ginger syrup, taking care to get some syrup into the holes. Reserve about a third of the syrup. Add the candied ginger and orange peel liberally to the top of the cake, then drizzle over the remaining syrup. I’d recommend serving it with a dash of cream.
Happy baking, dear reader!
Vanessa Thompsett 