18 December 2010

New Baking Method?

You will have seen the previous post with the picture of my chocolate cake disaster. I said I would explain, so here goes.
A friend at work was leaving to have a baby and I had promised to make a cake for her farewell tea (we have tea and cake at work quite a bit, lots of birthdays etc) and what with it being the Christmas season I didn't have any time to bake except before going to work. So up I get at 6.30 and began the baking. I had decided to make Nigella's Quadruple Chocolate loaf (quadruple because it has cocoa and chocolate in the cake, a chocolate syrup poured over the top and chocolate shavings to finish! So a bit of chocolate is involved). I won't give you the recipe this time, I will wait until I make it properly!
All seemed to go well, batter made, tin lined (with my loaf liners), oven pre-heated, all normal. I popped it in the oven and then went to have my shower. I came downstairs about 30 minutes later and it smelled like the cake was burning, but it couldn't be it had only been in the oven for 30 minutes of it's hour. So what was happening? I opened the oven to discover that the mix had risen over the top of the tin and some had burned on the bottom of the oven, mystery solved. As I had the oven open I decided to turn it around at which point I discovered that the top of the cake was burned black. Rather than rising as a cake usually does it was completely flat and black! And not cooked inside, liquid inside really. I was flumoxed as you can imagine. I poked it a few times, wondered what I had done and after about 5 minutes of non-plussedness I decided it wasn't fit for human consumption. I then poured the syrup away, washed up and went to work wondering all the while what I had done wrong.
When I got to work I was explaining what had happened to a friend at work and she asked if I had put the grill on instead of the oven! And suddenly it all was clear, I had grilled my chocolate cake!!
I told the potential recipient of the cake my sad and sorry tale and she was very understanding and even moved by the fact that I had tried at least! We had Maison Blanc chocolate logs and lemon tarts instead and some yum home-made cupcakes, so no lack of cake.
When I got home that night the grilled cake was waiting for me, I had a taste and let me tell you it was good, but I binned it. I could have eaten it all but that way lies madness and an even bigger waistline. But I will make it again. But next time I will make sure I don't bake at 6.30 in the morning!!

10 December 2010

Chocolate Cake Disaster


Just adding a picture of a cake disaster that happened this morning, feast your eyes and I will explain later!