Triple Chocolate Lamingtons

I don’t get a lot of mail (that is addressed to me anyway) but once a month I get Gourmet Traveller and Delicious magazines delivered, which brighten my day when I find them waiting in my letter box. I like to flip through the pictures first which is usually around dinner time so I am generally drooling. This particular cover photo (from the March 2012 Gourmet Traveller) inspired an extra amount of drool, probably because of the triple-chocolate name dropping going on.

It’s not the most straightforward recipe to use but these lamingtons were a lot of fun to make, especially the dunking cake in chocolate part. They didn’t turn out exactly like the picture in the magazine but were pretty close and still tasty!

INGREDIENTS

Cake

100g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

60g butter, chopped

8 eggs

300g caster sugar

180g plain flour

60g cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

200g (4 cups) coconut flakes

Raspberry Jam

250g raspberries (about 2 punnets)

120g caster sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

Chocolate-raspberry Cream

200ml thickened cream

120g dark chocolate, melted

20ml raspberry liqueur

80g raspberries, coarsely crushed

Chocolate Glaze

60g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

240g pure icing sugar, sifted

80g cocoa powder, sifted

60ml (1/4 cup) milk

METHOD

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and butter and line a square 21cm cake tin.

2. Melt half the chocolate (50g) and half the butter (30g) in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until smooth and keep warm.

3. Whisk half the eggs (4) and half the sugar (150g) in an electric mixer until pale and tripled in volume (for about 5-6 minutes).

4. Sift the half the flour (90g) and half the cocoa powder (30g) three times into a large bowl.

5. Fold flour mixture into egg mixture in two batches.

6. Fold in melted chocolate mixture.

7. Spoon mixture into prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

8. Repeat steps 1 to 7 with remaining ingredients. I’m not sure why the recipe tells you to make the mixture twice, I did it this way but it would probably be easier and quicker to just make it with the full amount of ingredients and divide the mixture equally into 2 identically sized tins.

Raspberry Jam

1. Stir raspberries (I used frozen raspberries because fresh were too expensive for my liking), sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves.

2. Bring to the boil and cook until thick and jammy (10-15 minutes), then cool completely.

Or you can just buy jam.

Chocolate-raspberry Cream

1. Whisk cream, melted chocolate and liqueur (I used Gin because I didn’t have any raspberry liqueur) in an electric mixer until soft peaks form (3-4 minutes). Be careful not to over whisk as the mixture will separate.

2. Fold in raspberries and refrigerate until required.

Chocolate Glaze

1. Stir chocolate and 190ml of water in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until smooth (2-3 minutes).

2. Remove from heat, add icing sugar and cocoa and stir until smooth.

3. Stir in milk.

Making the Lamingtons

1. Turn one cake upside down and spread jam over the top.

2. Spread with the chocolate-raspberry cream and refrigerate until the cream is just firm (about 10-15 minutes).

3. Put the remaining cake on top (normal way up) and push down so it sticks. When I did this the filling spilled out the sides so I got a knife and smushed it back in to make the sides smooth.

4. Refrigerate layered cake until firm, about 1 hour. Don’t skip this step as the cakes will fall apart when you try to dip it in chocolate.

5. Once cooled, cut the cake into squares (the recipe says 7cm but make them however big you like).

6. Dip each quickly in chocolate glaze then roll in coconut.

7. Stand until set, about 1 hour, then serve.

I’m not convinced the final result was worth the messiness it caused (I may have had chocolate smeared on the bench, floor, sink, cupboards and my clothes). But it was fun to try making a classic Australian delicacy that I used to love eating as a treat at my grandparent’s house!

Sticky Date Pudding

This is a classic dessert that is also pretty easy to make. A sweet soft pudding covered in oozing rich caramel sauce makes this cake a definite crowd pleaser. This recipe is from the first Masterchef cookbook and is also available online with a simple google. It says to make individual puddings but I wanted to make one big cake and cut it in to squares for serving. 

If you like butterscotch and caramel and general scrumptiousness try out this recipe!

INGREDIENTS

Cake

170g dates, pitted and roughly chopped

310 ml (1 ¼ cups) water

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

165g (3/4 cup) firmly packed brown sugar

60g butter

2 eggs

150g (1 cup) self-raising flour

Caramel Sauce

50g butter

220g (1 cup) brown sugar

250ml (1 cup) cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

METHOD

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced) and grease your chosen sized pan, either individual pudding moulds or a square/rectangle/circle/pineapple shaped tin.

2. Put dates and water into a saucepan and bring to the boil over high heat. Let it bubble for a few minutes so the dates start to fall apart. 

3. Remove from the heat and add bicarbonate of soda. Stir until dates continue to break down, then set aside to cool.

4. Place the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat (with an electric mixer preferably) until creamy.

5. Gradually add eggs one at a time and beat until light and fluffy.

6. Add cooled date mixture and stir to combine.

7. Fold through sifted flour and pour into prepared tin until about 2/3 full as the cake will rise slightly.

8. Put the tin with cake mixture in it into another baking tray and slowly pour boiling water into the tray until it comes up to about 1/3 of the side of the tin.

9. Bake in oven for 40 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Caramel Sauce

1. Combine butter, sugar, cream and vanilla in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter melts and sugar dissolves.

2. Bring sauce to the boil, reduce heat slightly and cook for 5-6 minutes or until sauce thickens. I cooked the sauce for about 10-12 minutes to make it a bit thicker.

To Serve

Invert the tin onto a plate and the pudding should fall out. Slice into portions and cover with caramel sauce. Don’t be shy with it, the more the merrier as they say!

I had heaps of caramel sauce left over which is also tasty with vanilla ice cream. Or with a spoon.

Surprise Cake

Surprise Cake

This is one ofmy favourite cake recipes that combines my two favourite ingredients, orange andchocolate. The recipe is from a cookbook that inspired many a baking adventurein the past, entitled Chocolate byLinda Collister. Importantly, there is a picture for every recipe which makesflipping through the book a tummy rumbling exercise!

Basically, it isa simple butter cake with a serious kick of orange covered in delicious chocolateicing.

INGREDIENTS

Cake

175g unsaltedbutter, at room temperature

175g caster sugar

Grated zest of 2oranges

3 large eggs,beaten

175gself-raising flour, sifted

2 tablespoonsfresh orange juice (from about ½ orange)

Orange Syrup

100ml freshlysqueezed orange juice (from about 1 ½ oranges)

1-2 tablespoonsorange liqueur, such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier

85g caster sugar

Chocolate Icing

150g darkchocolate, finely chopped

55g unsaltedbutter, cut into small pieces

A springform or deep cake tin, 20cm indiameter, buttered and base-lined with baking paper

METHOD

Cake

1. Put the butter into a mixing bowl and,using a wooden spoon or electric mixer, beat until creamy. I like to chop thebutter into cubes to make it easier (and quicker) to cream.

2.  Add the sugar and orange zest and beatuntil light and fluffy.

3. Gradually beat in the eggs, beating wellafter each addition. The mixture might look like it has curdled but when youadd the flour it will go away.

4. Using a large metal spoon (or a rubberspatula), fold in the flour in 3 batches, adding the orange juice with the lastbatch of flour.

5.  Spoon the batter into the prepared tinand level the surface.

6.  Bake in preheated oven at 180°C (350°F orGas 4) for 35-40 minutes.

7. Make the orange syrup. 

8. As soon as the cake is well risen, goldenbrown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean, remove from the ovenand transfer to a wire rack. Do not remove the cake from the tin.

9. Prick the cake all over with a skewer andslowly spoon the orange syrup over the cake, until it has all been absorbed.Leave until cold before removing from the tin.

10. Make chocolate icing. 

11. Once completely cooled transfer cake toserving platter and spread chocolate icing evenly over the top and sides of thecake and let set.

Orange Syrup

- Put the orangejuice, liqueur and caster sugar into a bowl, and using a large metal spoon stiruntil the sugar dissolves.

Chocolate Icing

- Put thechocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of steaming waterand melt gently (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water).

- Remove the bowlfrom the heat, gently stir the chocolate until smooth.

Notes

Store in anairtight container

Best eaten within6 days

The cooled cake,minus the syrup, can be frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost the cake, then gentlywarm the syrup, pour over the cake and finish as in the main recipe.

Looks like aplain old chocolate cake from the outside...

...but surprise,inside its orange!