Speedy chocolate and sherry cake
I was given a fabulous book recently called the Bluffer’s Guide to Chocolate. It’s a terrific read about the evolution of the cocoa bean, full of humour and delicious information. Being a theobromine addict, there really was no option but to cook with chocolate almost immediately.
This recipe is actually a tweaked version of one I’ve written about before that’s brilliant to have in your recipe arsenal. From mixing bowl to plate it takes no more than 30 minutes to make, so it’s perfect for occasions when you need to rustle up a pudding in a hurry. And because it contains booze, it tastes a bit fancier than it actually is. That’s a win-win situation in my book.
The booze in question is the luscious Pedro Ximénez sherry, an extraordinary wine made from Pedro Ximénez grapes, which are dried in the Spanish sun. The result is a thick and treacly sherry that tastes intensely of raisins and molasses. Although it’s pricey, it’s well-worth adding to your booze cabinet as it’s delicious as a ‘sticky’ to enjoy with pudding, or poured over vanilla ice cream as pudding itself. And to my mind, it works brilliantly with chocolate.
If you don’t have any to hand, I can’t see why any sweet sherry, muscat or fortified wine wouldn’t work here (although I haven’t road-tested it with any other booze). I used 2 tablespoons in the batter and then ate the cake warm; it tasted quite strongly of booze (in a nice way), rich and almost Christmassy. I was going to reduce the quantity of sherry for the final recipe but I realised that once the cake was cold, the alcohol flavour mellowed quite markedly. Be your own judge as to whether you add 1 or 2 tablespoons to your cake. Apart from making that call, the recipe is ludicrously easy.
Speedy chocolate and sherry cake
- 150g quality dark chocolate (60%–70% cocoa solids), broken into small piece
- 80g ground almonds
- 185g caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- a pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 60g self-raising flour
- 1-2 tablespoons Pedro Ximénez
Lightly oil and line a 20cm cake tin. Set the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Place all the ingredients in a food processor with a couple of tablespoons of water and blitz until everything is completely combined. The batter should drop off the end of a wooden spoon quite easily, so if it’s too thick add a splash more water. That’s it! Scrape into the prepared tin and bake for about 25 minutes, or until firm on top and coming away from the edges of the tin slightly.
Enjoy warm or cold, with cold cream or ice cream. Sprinkle with sifted icing sugar before serving, if you like.
