Rich Dark Chocolate Cake

Nobody can resist the temptation of a deliciously baked rich chocolate cake. If you love chocolates, this is a recipe you shouldn't miss. It is rich, moist, chocolatey and not too sweet to my liking.

Here are the easy steps off from the book of Cakes & Slices.

A
185g butter, chopped
250g dark chocolate chips


B
215g self raising flour (I use top flour)
40g unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted together with flour)

C
375g caster sugar (I use 350g)

D
3 eggs at room temperature, beaten

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 160deg C and lightly grease a 22cm cake tin.
2. Melt A in a bowl, over simmering water till butter and chocolate chips have melted
3. Combine A with C and D.
4. Add 250ml of water and mix well. Add the flour and cocoa mixture and stir till well combined.
5. Bake for 1 hr 30min (but i halved the portion in a smaller tin, so I baked for about an hour)

Chocolate Topping
20g butter, chopped
125g dark chocolate, chopped

1. Melt butter and chcolate chips in a bowl, over simmering water. Spread topping over cooled cake and decorate as you wish.

Eggy Business

This is my 2nd attempt in baking egg tarts. My tarts always look so out of shape and irregular! Anyhow different people have different preferences towards egg tarts. Some like it eggy, some like it pastry-like, some like it crumbly. This version that I tried from Prime website, is not too bad but a tad too crusty - crumbly and broken the min you bite it. Remove from the mould with care.

Tart
340 g PrimaFlour SuperLite Flour (i couldnt find this, so I substituted it with Plain flour)
115 g Butter (soft)
115 g Soft Margarine
70 g Icing Sugar
½ Egg


1. Add margarine, butter and icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Mix for 5-7 mins at low speed.
2. Add the egg into mixture and mix for another 2 mins at low speed.
3. Fold in the flour and blend well. (Here it is wet and oily but make sure flour is well incorporated into the dough) Cover the dough with a piece of cloth and keep in the fridge till firm. (approx 10-15min)
4. Remove the dough and roll it out to 3mm thick. Cut and line the pastry into the egg tart mould. (This is the toughest part!)

Egg Custard
115 g Water
40 g Sugar
35 ml Milk
1 ½ Eggs
I added 10g of custard powder

1. Using a hand whisk, dissolve the sugar into the water. (I use hot water so the sugar can dissolve)

2. Blend in milk, egg and mix well. (This is where I add 10g of custard powder to make it more firm and 'curd-like')
3. Pour the custard into the egg tart mould.
4. Preheat the oven to 220deg C, bake for 20 mins till the custard has set and the crust golden brown. (I use 200 deg C)

Note: the egg custard recipe here only makes about 8. I had to repeat the recipe about 2 more times for the extra crust left.

Verdict: some love this, but I still think my skills can be improved much further