lard cake....mmmmmm

it's actually a gloriously oozy chocolate cake with a well of dulce de leche and topped with intense dark chocolate which i made for my husband's 30th birthday. on seeing it cut into though a friend screeched in horror 'is that lard?!' now i wouldn't say we are an entirely healthy family but a cake filled with lard isn't exactly our style.

i suppose that this was inspired by c's love of millionaire shortcake and my distinctly sweet tooth that is fairly uncontrollable at the moment.

the cake is a basic chocolate sponge, baked in a single layer star shaped mould. when cooled i hollowed out a 1cm deep well in the centre, leaving a border of about 1.5cm round the edge to retain the flow of caramel.

the dulce de leche is simple to make but a bit time consuming; several techniques are available to follow here - i used the 'in the can' method very effectively. carnation do a ready made version, available at most supermarkets, which is apparently good.

pour the caramel into the well, allow it a little time to flow into the nooks and crannies and begin to firm on top a little. mix a 100g of melted dark chocolate (a real bitter one holds up well here to counter the incredible sweetness underneath) with 25g butter and drizzle over the cake until a layer is formed. be delicate and patient with this dribbling it thinly over the dulce de leche; too much in one go will cause caramel displacement! allow the chocolate to set, decorate as you see fit - we went for very flamboyant silver ball designs and mini sparklers- and indulge!

esme's sleepover birthday cake

i made the cake in a square cake tin for 25 minutes at 180 degrees using 100g butter, 100g caster sugar, 2 eggs and 100g flour with a sprinkle of cocoa powder. i was chatting to emily and put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl together instead of creaming the butter and sugar first. i decided i couldn't do anything about it so whisked them all together and kept my fingers crossed. the cake rose beautifully so i was either lucky or there is a conspiracy to make baking more complex than it needs to be!

i cut a strip off the cake and used it for the pillows and then decorated it with coloured butter icing and lots of sprinkles.

the sleepover went well - the girls had salami pizza, flambouyant icecreams and giggled until midnight!

chocolate cake with beetroot

this is a great cake but maybe you do have to like beetroot because there is a pleasant earthy taste that runs alongside the dark chocolate that would probably taste distinctly beetrooty to someone who is not a fan. i am a fan and i found this cake a pleasure to make and eat.

the cake

125g butter

75g dark chocolate pieces

300g soft light brown sugar

3 eggs

225g self raising flour

1/4 tsp salt50g cocoa powder250g cooked beetroot, grated

grated white chocolate

double cream to serve

preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4

grease a loose bottomed 23cm tin and line the base with greaseproof paper

melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.

beat the sugar, butter and eggs ina separate bowl. stir in the melted chocolate, fold in the flour, cocoa powder and salt. once combined, add the beetroot and stir.

carefully transfer the mixture into your cake tin and bake for 45 minutes. it is ready when your skewer comes out almost clean. leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. turn it onto a wire rack and leave to cool.

the icing

150g dark chocolate pieces

135ml double cream

5 tbsp icing sugar

put all the ingredients in a bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water. stir it altogether then take off the heat. stir quickly until you have a smooth and glossy mixture. leave to cool and thicken.

spread the icing over the cake and top with grated chocolate.

serve with whipped double cream.

thanks to diana henry, mrs. ramsay and daniella's sister who first introduced me to vegetables and chocolate. yum!