it has rained everyday since my birthday. my birthday happens to fall on st swithin's day. if it rains on st swithin's day it is supposed to rain for 40 days and 40 nights. it is having a damn good shot at it by the looks of things.
we are keeping our fingers crossed for a nice afternoon tomorrow. tomorrow we are joining in the neighbourhood street party and are contributing this cake to the cake stall, our spare chilli plants to the plant stall and spicy chicken kebabs to the barbeque...mmmm...anybody would think we have a thing for chilli in our house!
chris came across this recipe in his mum's enviably organised folder of cut out recipes and decided it was worth a go. i'm not sure what magazine it is from but james tanner is responsible. we've adapted a bit by thickening up the ginger chocolate sauce he suggested and making it into a ganache style icing for the top. the recipe below includes our adaptations.
ingredients
100g soft butter
100g caster sugar
100g self raising flour
3 eggs
2 red chillies, deseeded and very finely chopped
50g dark chocolate drops or grated cocoa bean chilli and pink peppercorn chocolate bar
for the icing
100g dark chocolate
75ml double cream
25g butter
1 piece of stem ginger, finely chopped ( you could use a couple of peices of cocoa bean chocolate coated crystallised ginger)
method
1. preheat the oven to 180c and lightly grease a 20cm cake tin.
2. cream the butter and suagr until light and fluffy. add the flour, eggs and chillies and whisk to make a thick smooth batter.
3. pour into the prepared tin, sprinkle with the cake chocolate and bake for 15 mins until risen.
4. to make the icing heat the cream gently in a small saucepan, when it is just beginning to bubble gently at the edge remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate, ginger and butter until the chocolate melts.
5. when the cake is cool spread the icing over the top.
6. we then went wild with tubes of coloured icing.
update
the street party was a great success!
the rain held off at the right time - terrifyingly windy though!
the cake was very delicious and even went down well enough with the 80 year old cake judge (the lady who has lived in the street the longest!). we didn't win this week but the chilli cake was certainly a talking point and that was the point of the day - to get everyone talking to each other. the chilli lends a sweetness and gentle heat but nothing too spicy and combines delightfully with the gingery flavour of the icing. definitely one to make again.
i did face painting!!!!
2 comments:
With a penchant for chilli chocolate and being dissapointed with the last bar I bought (way too chilli even for me) I thought id give this cake a go. ITs fab, I really liked it! :-)
it is delicious isn't it - just warming enough to be intriguing but not blow your head off!
was it a cocoa bean chilli and pink peppercorn bar that you found too strong? or another variety? i really enjoy ours because although it is undoubtedly hot (me and sarah spent such a long time enjoying curries in rusholme when we were in manchester we have become hardened chilli lovers!) i love the fragrant flavour of the pink peppercorn that adds depth and character rather than just fearsome heat! if you have tried ours i'd love to hear your feedback!
Post a Comment