This is the ultimate chocolate cake – dense, dark, chocolatey and spiked with a hint of chilli. I know the ingredients seem a bit strange – the tahini and salted nuts put me off initially – but they somehow all work together to make a intensely chocolatey, moist cake.
I’ve made it with lime icing before, which is so delicious. The wonderful tartness of the fresh lime really complements the dark chocolate flavour. I couldn’t get hold of any limes this time so I used orange zest instead and that worked well too.
Ingredients:
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
tsp bicarbonate of soda
75g cocoa
1 tsp cinnamon
100g cashews
3 tablespoons tahini
– tsp chilli flakes (add more if you like more heat)
225g light muscovado or Demerara sugar
100g unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids is best)
2 large free-range eggs
200ml cold full cream milk
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Line a round, 20cm tin with non-stick baking paper and grease the paper.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa and cinnamon into a bowl.
Grind the nuts finely in a food processor, then add the tahini, chilli and sugar, and mix until combined.
Melt the butter and chocolate in a saucepan and add to the nut mixture along with the eggs. Beat until smooth.
Spoon into another bowl, stir in the milk, sift in the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Pour into the tin and bake for about an hour.
To make the icing you need:
icing sugar
luke warm water
3-4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime or orange juice
zest from two oranges or four limes
Mix the lime or orange juice with icing sugar and the water until you get a thick paste. I did not put quantities since you can make it as thick or thin as you like. Mix the lime or orange before spreading the icing over the cake. While the icing is still wet, sprinkle some more zest on top.
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