Rich Fudgy Chocolate Brownie Cake

Shall we roll out the year on a glorious wave of chocolate? Shall we? Why not? Here is the last post and final recipe of 2010 and it is for Rich Fudgy Chocolate Brownie Cake - whatever that conjures up for you, it is.



Here's the story: I was flipping through a magazine supplement from Woman & Home: Fabulous Christmas Food when my eye was caught by a dramatic photo of the perfect chocolate cake decorated with glistening glace cherries taken side view with a hint of icing oozing from between the layers: the voluptuous silhouette of the shiny red cherries atop the dark, moist cake proved irresistible. A glance at the ingredients which included 5 eggs for a start, 60% dark chocolate and lots of it too, soon convinced me that this cake aspired towards higher things than the regular tea table. With my nearest and dearest coming for the holiday, I wanted something luscious and I had a hunch that this was it.

                                                                                 

Turks - apart from our very own dear ones - don't celebrate Christmas but they do love New Year's Eve or Yıl Başı as it's called. Celebrating the 31st December has gone from strength to strength over the years that I have lived here. It is like Christmas all over again. Turkeys are roasted, trees are decorated, presents are exchanged, and the whole thing with such joy, it's as if it was always celebrated thus. It was always celebrated but in a much simpler way: my husband remembers his favourite childhood Yıl Başı treats were muz or bananas, and sosis/sausages. Hardly extravagant but symptomatic of those times when levels of income were much lower. This cake is a leap the other way: make it and it will be the star of your New Year's sofra.

Ingredients

Serves 10-12
you will need 2 x 23cm/ 9'' shallow sandwich tins

275g/9 1/2 oz 60% dark chocolate (I used 70% Lindt)

225g/8oz unsalted butter

400g/14oz caster sugar ( I use regular granulated sugar here in Turkey as it is quite fine)

5 eggs, beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

200g/7oz plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

glace cherries to decorate

for the mascarpone filling:

125g/4 1/2 oz mascarpone, brought up to room temperature

60g/2 1/2 oz dark chocolate, melted and cooled

1-2 tbsp icing sugar, to taste

for the fondant icing:
175g/ 6oz icing sugar
3 tbsp water
25g/ 1oz cocoa powder
25g/1oz granulated sugar

Method

• Heat oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Melt the chocolate and butter in a large saucepan over low heat and allow to cool for a few mins before stirring in the sugar. Add eggs and vanilla a little at a time, stirring well with each addition.

•  Don't worry if it splits, it will come back together when you add the flour. Fold in the flour in batches and stir in the salt. Divide between the 2 tins and cook for 20-25 mins, till a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs.


                 

 



after baking


• Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for a few mins before tipping on to a wire rack and allowing to cool completely.

• Meanwhile, make the mascarpone filling. Mix the mascarpone and chocolate together and add icing sugar to taste. When the cakes are cool, place one upside down on a plate and spread the top with the mascarpone filling. Top with the other cake, this time the right way up, and then make the icing.

• Sift the icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Put the water, cocoa powder and granulated sugar into a saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and draw off the heat. Pour on to the icing sugar and using a wooden spoon, beat to a smooth, soft consistency. Use while warm - this fondant icing sets very quickly.
• Decorate with the glace cherries and/or other cake decorations.

cuts like a dream

Tips

1. This cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
2. Un-iced cakes, well-wrapped, will freeze for up to a month.
3. I preferred this icing to the one given in the original recipe which required a tin of condensed milk. Given that we don't get it here, and also that it is full of calories, I took the decision to have a fondant icing so that is not Woman & Home.
4. To my joy, we can now find mascarpone at any major supermarket here in Istanbul. It gives me a real thrill to be able to get the ingredient specified after so many years of making do.
5. I was very pleased with this recipe and so was the family.  Definitely one for high days and holidays.You can find glace cherries and in fact any other type of glace fruit from certain bakery shops. It is worth going in and asking if you see that the cakes on display contain them. Not as difficult to find as you might think.

 the very last crumbs

We're going to Assos, our beautiful Aegean village for Yıl Başı unless the weather turns icy.

Wherever you are, a very Happy New Year to you all and thank you so much for the encouragement and support you have shown me over the last few months with your emails and Facebook messages! I appreciate it enormously.