Chilli Chocolate Cake

To celebrate the kitchen finally being finished and of course with it being Valentine's weekend I decided to bake something fabulous. Well I think it is anyway and Country Boy seems rather pleased with it because chilli chocolate is one of his most favourite things. It's sweet and a bit gooey and has a lovely little spicy kick. Perfect with a great big dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

So if you're a chocolate fan, who likes a bit of spice or just to create a cake that looks a bit funky I promise you won't be disappointed. I hope you make it and love it, if you do, let me know.

Recipe:

Ingredients

CAKE:
250g Unsalted Butter
300g Caster Sugar
100g Plain Flour
100g Self-Raising Flour
4 Eggs
300g Dark Chocolate ( I used a mixture of Chilli Chocolate , 70% & 90% cocoa)
1-3 Red Chillies (depends on your preference – I used 3)

ICING:
200g Dark Chocolate (I used half Chilli chocolate & half dark)
200ml Double Cream

Method
1. Heat an oven to 160°C/Gas 3 (140°C if a fan oven)
2. Grease with butter a 20cm (approx) cake tin. (use springform if preferred)
3. Using an electric/classic whisk, add the butter/margarine to a mixing bowl together with the sugar. Whisk till light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, take care not to let the mixture seperate. If it does seperate, add a bit of flour.
5. Melt the chocolate
6. Once cool, add the chocolate to the mixture and mix in.
7. Add the remaining flour to the mixture and stir till smooth.
8. If you are using fresh chilli/es finely chop them, and either add to mixture. Stir till smooth.
10. Pour the cake mixture into the greased cake tin.
11. Bake for just over 1 hours or till fully cooked. Mine took 1 hour 10 approx.

Check by poking a knife or stick in, and if clean it is cooked. It should be risen and have a slight crust.

12. Take out the cake, and let it cool for 10 minutes, before taking out of the tin. Then leave to cool for another 10 minutes on a wire rack.
13. The cake could be eaten now, or if you want to ice it, proceed with the instructions, or choose your own icing choice.

14. To make Chocolate cream, simply:
Melt the chocolate as before, and mix together with the cream, and then cool until thickened. Cut the cake in half, ice, then put back together and ice all over. Add a Chilli or two for decoration of course. I decided on one in the end, pure & simple.

bring back Bagpuss

just a quick entry. Was recently looking for art work for my very white kitchen wall and stumbled on this, a bright orange poster poem which pretty much captures my childhood. Made me smile. I think it would look good on the kitchen wall and will make me smile as I eat my purple porridge (just add blueberries). Yes I know I'm still a big kid, don't care. Life's to short to pretend your someone you aren't don't you agree?

So here's to orange things and Bagpuss and pretending to be Batman with your coat hood over your head, just like we did when we were six.

Sweet and Tender hooligan

"He was a sweet and tender hooligan, hooligan
And he swore that he'll never,ever do it again
And of course he won't (on not until the next time)"

The opening lines from a sweet little ditty by The Smiths, which pretty much sums up Cooper, (the cat one) at the moment. Me and Cooper are having major relationship issues right now. I may even have dramatically announced "It's so over" as I locked him in his bedroom after this particular incident.

Why? I hear you ponder (well probably not but hey). Well imagine the scenario, it's just past midnight, I a happily heading for bed, giving Scruff her final pat of the night, when I spy through the door the little green eyes of Cooper. So I let him in, as you do and he scampers in quite pleased with himself and clearly on a mission to break into the cupboard under the stairs.

And thats when I noticed, the little friend he'd brought home with him, the one dangling from his little catty fangs, by its tail. The truth well and truly dawned, the little git had pounced on some poor little mouse. Oh my god, just what a girl needs.

Initially I rather bizarrely attempted to reason with Cooper to release Mousie, it was like some bizarre hostage negotiation. Didn't last long though as Cooper (petulent teenager that he now appears to be) shot me a glance of "As if" and then raced off up the stairs, mouse still being dangled. I off course was in hot pursuit, still reading him the riot act of why bringing home uninvited guests was just not on frankly. I caught him of course at the top of the stairs. he was endeavouring to flick mouse from paw to paw, truly a psychopath I swear it. No match for e though, oh no, I was on a mission to save mousie. What followed was much more shouting and attempts to grab Cooper who kept shooting me glances of "And you think you are who exactly?". In the end and its embarrasing to admit it, I threw a toilet roll at aforementioned psychopathic cat. Well in his general vicinity not actually with the intention of belting him with it, that would be just mean. And no, I didn't run to the bathroom to get it, it was just on the landing (I don't know why OK). Anyway it had the desired effect and Cooper retreated a couple of stairs down, from where I grabbed him and dispatched him to his bedroom aka the dining room. Cooper in protest mewed very loudly. Scruffbag, knowing this was pretty serious stayed in her basket, snout hidden under blanket.

The mouse, well by some miracle the rather dishevelled, damp looking mouse, which was shivering in the corner was still alive. Dazed but alive. So off I went, found a sheet of newspaper for mouse to clamber on and took him to the veg patch. Thankfully it was dark so the neighbours were spared the site of me in my pyjamas. Mouse still a bit dazed was fine, had a bit of a sit and a think, presumably about its near death experience and then pondered which way was home.

I went off to watch telly with Scruffbag, well a girl can't sleep after high drama like this not with any amount of Ovaltine. Scruff emerged from her basket to be supportive, ie stick her chin on me and look mournful (not sure why she thinks that solves everything but she does). And what of Cooper, well he was still miaowing in protest from his room, presumably something about the infringement of his rights to chase mice.

I'd like to say he swore that he'd never ever do it again, but he didn't. In fact next morning when he was released fro his room instead of his usual run to his bowl, he wanted to be let out to look for his mouse. No chance.

Here he is, oh yes, doesn't look like a psychotic serial killer does he? Well don't be fooled. Cooper Ezekiel Beelzebub Ronnie Reggie Psycho (his show name) is not to be trusted around birds, mice. Oh yes and if the latest report from Big Al and Nige are true, squirrels. He has apparently graduated to squirrel chasing.



Oh yes and in case you're not convinced this incident is a repeat offence, the week before there was also a mouse dangling incident, he merrily taunted me with that one as I carried the shopping in from the car. There was also the decapitated one, I found on the doorstep, I swear its a miracle I'm not in therapy.

Oh and for those unfamiliar with English wildlife, here's the poor victim (well a lookalike even I wouldn't make the poor thing pose for photos after its trauma).



I imagine, just as the in the song I imagine Cooper would make some plea in mitigation of "he was old and he would have died anyway". And yes I know he is a cat and its his nature etc, but surely after all these years he'd have some respect for my lentil choming sensibilities, surely?