35 mins
Super easy
serves 2
About the recipe
I have a lot of love for this chocolate cake – it's not too difficult and totally delicious.
Ingredients
For the cake
. 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
. 100g butter, softened
. 100g caster sugar
. 1 free-range egg
. 100g self-raising flour
. �� teaspoon baking powder
. ½ tin of black cherries, drained
. 2 tablespoons hazelnuts, chopped
For the chocolate sauce
. 1 tablespoon butter
. 142ml single cream
. 75g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
. a splash of brandy, rum, Amaretto or Baileys
Top Tip
Serve it with a little glass of whatever booze you decide to add to the chocolate sauce – I love brandy, but rum, Amaretto or Baileys would also work well.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and grease a small ovenproof dish (23-25cm) with butter.
- Mix the cocoa powder with a few tablespoons of boiling water and stir until the mixture is lovely and smooth.
- In another bowl or a food mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy and light, then add the cocoa mixture, egg, flour and baking powder. Mix it all together really well and pour into your ovenproof dish.
- Drain the cherries, chop the hazelnuts and sprinkle both on top before putting the dish in the oven for about 25 minutes.
- While your cake is baking, make your chocolate sauce. Place the butter in a small pan with the cream and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat, break the chocolate into small pieces and add to the pan.
- Give it all a good stir and then leave it for 5 minutes so that the hot cream can melt the chocolate. Add a splash of your desired alcohol and stir until thoroughly combined.
- To check if your cake is ready, give it a bit of a jiggle. If it doesn’t wobble too much then it’s done; if not, give it a few more minutes in the oven.
- Once it’s ready, pour your warm chocolate sauce all over the cake and either share it right from the dish or serve it up on small plates with vanilla ice cream or double cream. Delicious!
Tags
