Wednesday 1 February 2012

Hot chocolate fudge cake

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Wow I think I hit a nerve with my previous post epiphanies. All those who wrote in with their opinions, good for you. I completely salute all you ladies out there who can get a frosting to stay as frosting and substitute ingredients with what's available, in India. But I love my convenience way too much than baking or cooking to oversee it, so I am gonna stick to what I said. 

Since that's out of the way, I shall get down to discussing my favourite subject, the weather. It finally feels like winter in London. Temperatures have gone down to 0 and although there is still no sign of snow, it does get a bit frosty in the mornings. I have always dreaded February (not just because I turn a year older), its the coldest, dreariest month, I feel. 

But the good thing is, I have discovered the benefits of drinking green tea. I mean I have tried it a couple of times in restaurants, but never really liked it, because, lets face, it has absolutely no taste. But then Twinings (the really popular tea brand) came out with their new Green Tea varieties like lemon, ginger, mint etc. and now I'm hooked. I was always a sucker for anything with lemon in it and oh to sip on it in this cold is absolutely soothing. Of course, the benefits like losing weight, reduced risk of heart disease, delaying signs of ageing (ooooh I like that one) are all added advantages, and if sipping on some delicious flavours of green tea is going to help me, why fight it right? So without wasting time, head on over to the Twinings Tea Shop and buy green tea to keep you going this winter.
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Coming to the recipe, this ones from my mother-in-law. For a chocolate hater like me, this pudding-like cake did wonders. And by that I mean, I could manage to eat a cup full, that's it. Mamma made it last year when we were in India for her chocolate obsessed son, but guess who enjoyed it more?- the daughter-in-law. The thing is, I enjoyed it way too much to not touch it for one whole year. I binge eat anything I like and then end up hating it with a vengeance. This recipe was jotted down and brought back with the hope of making it to my blog in 2011, but the thought of all that gooey chocolate put me off. Its only today that I had this craving for something warm (trust me, a brioche bread pudding topped the list), and since the ingredients for this chocolate fudge cake was readily available, I went ahead with it.

The technique and recipe is much different from the usual fudge cake and the outcome, absolutely marvellous. The batter layer rises to the top forming a cakey layer and then you dig into it to get the gooey topping which sinks to the bottom. You can either make it in a single casserole dish or in individual ramekins or mugs/cups and be more concerned about how it looks than tastes (like me). I had picked up a lot of prop for the blog from India and now I have this block when it comes to styling and photography. After 1 week there is some sun out here and I ended up with unattractive pictures. So till I get the photography mojo back, you will have to do with bleak, non-creative pictures. Enjoy!
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For the cake:
Flour- 1 cup
Baking powder- 2 tsp
Granulated sugar- 2/3rd cup
Cocoa powder- 2 tbsp
Salt- 1 tsp
Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
Milk- 1/2 cup
Oil- 2 tbsp

For the topping
Dark brown sugar- 1 cup
Cocoa powder- 1/4 cup
Boiling water- 1 3/4 cup
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Whisk together all the dry ingredients for the cake in a large mixing bowl.
In another smaller bowl, stir together the vanilla, milk, and oil.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well to combine. No traces of flour should be seen. I did this with a wire whisk. Beater is unnecessary.
Grease the dish you are using and pour the batter into it. If using individual ramekins/ cups, then fill each of it till about half full. Keep aside. 
Pre-heat the oven to 200C
Prepare the topping by mixing together the brown sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl.
Sprinkle this mixture over the cake batter as evenly as possible.
Then using the back of a spoon, slowly pour the boiling water over the batter. Do the same with all the ramekins till they are about 3/4th full.
Reduce the oven temperature to 150C and place the bowls inside.
Bake for 30 minutes. Do not over do it.
Take them out, keep aside to cool for a while and either dig in, or once they are completely cool, refrigerate for further use.
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Notes: I halved the recipe and got 4 mugs of pudding
The topping procedure mentioned above sounded a bit complicated to me and so mamma gave me an alternative. After you mix the brown sugar and cocoa powder, add a tbsp of hot water to it and mix it till you get a paste-like consistency. Into this add the boiling water slowly using the back of a spoon and mix it all in, Finally, use this mix to then pour on top of the cake batter. That way everything is evenly mixed and you have more control over how much to add in each ramekin.
Since brown sugar is not readily available in Kerala, mamma substitutes it with 3/4th cup of sharkara paani (jaggery syrup) or a cup of jaggery. If using the syrup, make sure you use 2 cups of boiling water instead on 1 3/4.
Add an oz of rum or brandy to the topping and it would be yummm.

33 comments:

Unknown said...

Looks absolutely delicious, pretty clicks

Reshmi Mahesh said...

Super yummy...Beautiful clicks...

Nisha said...

I actually follow the same recipe, but from Foodnetwork.com, it's for a Gooey Chocolate Pudding Cake.
Love the fact that it's eggless yet turns out so spongy, along with the saucy pudding in the bottom.

Raji said...

This looks absolutely gorgeous..eggless makes it so much more good. Already pinned it on my pinboard.

Finla said...

After reading the first sentence i went to your earlier post to read all the comments :-) i agree aobut green tea, no taste in the begning i used to add as much as the normal amount i use for making the normal black tea and then it tasted so bitter and then i saw a programme and they said we should only add little and also don't leave the tea leaves too long as if it turns bitter all the goodness is gone.
You know my thought aobut chocolate :-)

Priyanka said...

YUMMY....looks lovely

Umm Mymoonah said...

I'm so much tempted by this cake in this past three days in different blogs, I think I'm gonna try this very soon.

Vineetha Sush said...

I never noticed green teas had different flavours ,if it has all the benefits u said why not ??would like to loose some weight,especially the waist line :)
The cake looks so tempting,I love chocolate cakes !!

Manju said...

looks so delicious..wonderful clicks!

Shinydewdrop said...

Looks absolutely delicious! I am so tempted to try this for dessert tonight! The photos are bad at all! Thanks for sharing.

Shinydewdrop said...

Sorry, I meant the photos aren't bad at all! :-S I was too hasty in hitting the publish button.

Rekha shoban said...

wow!!mouthwatering cake..looks delicious!!

Torviewtoronto said...

cake looks fabulous deliciously done

Sudha said...

Hi Nisha,
hopped onto your blog from Vineetha's place - you have such a beautiful place here.Love your recipes and your awesome photography!I'll be back some for more trawling - as of today,following you happily from now on:)Do Keep posted!

Brittany said...

This looks incredible! I wish I was a chocolate hater. It's my food nemesis :)

Erin said...

Yummy comfort food!! Thanks for sharing!

Binys Recipes said...

wow love to grab dat cup....

Priya Suresh said...

Mouthwatering here, wat a terrific and super tempting fudge cake.

Sushma said...

that looks yummylecious, super delicious

Suja Manoj said...

Looks divine,chocolaty and gooey gooey..yum

Helena / Rico sin Azúcar said...

Simply irresistible!!!
:-D

divyagcp said...

Looks Yummy and very tempting.

Sobha Shyam said...

looks absolutely yummy..

Unknown said...

wow, I would love to give that a try, looks super tempting.

the Junkie book said...

yum i would love to dig into the fudge too even with my chocolate snicker...and advanced happy birthday fellow aquarian!
green tea, yes, tastes something like saw dust...actually we taste the smell of saw dust but the newer ones are a welcome. i store bunches of them too.
and you've managed pretty photos with some nice colour themes!

Unknown said...

This looks like death by chocolate! Such a nice cozy pudding!

Deeps @ Naughty Curry said...

oh.my.god. this looks decadent! i dunno what ur talkin bout when u say 'unattractive pictures' i think they look stunning! that gooey centre looks so good im craving some right now

Charu Srivastava said...

luks delicious...first time here...i m ur happy follower now...do visit my space when free

Lucy said...

This cake looks so perfect for these cold days in London! You can never beat chocolate :)

Wholesale Food said...

It's fabulous.Looking very awesome,sure gonna try this and added to my menu..

Unknown said...

Gosh that is really gooey and chocolaty inside, divine for me :D And welcome to world of green tea, i completely love them sp during winter. This site is pretty good for tea, they have some good collection http://www.adagio.com/. Twinings is what buy often, try organic Nisha, they are really good.

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow...I am in gastronomical heaven by seeing this post....very yum looking pots...completely drool worthy...

TheYummyMorsel said...

A mug full of gooey goodness! Tempting.