Chocolate Cake with Buttercream

Now this is a delicious chocolate cake recipe. What makes this good is the real proper dark chocolate. Use good quality organic chocolate. It does not have to be organic, but for some reason this always seems to be the best to buy. What you need for the Chocolate cake mixture: 150g/6oz butter 150g/6 oz caster sugar, plus another 50g/2oz for meringue 7 eggs, separated (use free range if possible) 175g/7 oz Fairtrade dark chocolate, melted 125g/5 oz self-raising flour, sifted What you need for the Buttercream: 100g/4 oz butter, softened 175g/7 oz icing sugar, sifted 1 tablespoon of Fairtrade ground coffee, or 1.5 teaspoons of Fairtrade instant coffee The procdeure for the chocolate cake: Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F/ Gas Mark 5. Grease and line the base of a deep 23cm/9 inch round cake tin. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in egg yolks one at a time, and then stir in the melted dark chocolate. Whisk egg whites until stiff, then fold in sugar to make meringue. Alternately fold in flour and meringue to the chocolate mix. Transfer mix to tin and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the cake is firm to touch and a skewer can be withdrawn cleanly. Leave to cool in the tin, then transfer to a cooling rack until cold. Split cake in half and fill with the coffee buttercream. The procedure for the buttercream: Infuse the ground coffee in a tablespoon of boiled water, then strain; or dissolve the instant coffee in half a teaspoon of boiling water. Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar to the mix a little at the time, beating well in between. Gradually beat in the coffee.

Brazilian milk pudding - Pudim de leite

Hi, this is Márcia's recipe for pudim de leite, which is a classic Brazilian milk pudding made from condensed milk, fresh milk, eggs and sugar. To make a family sized pudim, with plenty left over for breakfast... use the following: 2 tins of condensed milk an equal amount of fresh milk (use tins to measure) 4 eggs white sugar First mix the condensed milk, milk and eggs in a food blender or liquidiser. Then cover the bottom of a glass oven dish with white sugar and caramalise on the hob. Once the sugar is bubbling and browning, remove from hob / turn gas off and leave to cool. Don't panic if you hear loud cracking noises, that's just the sugar, not your dish, hopefully. Once the sugar has cooled, pour in the milk and eggs mix. Place in an oven for approximately one hour at 200 degrees Celsius. To check if cooked place a fork straight down in the centre and if it comes out clean it is ready. Remove the dish and leave to cool down. Serve plain or cover with fresh strawberries, and more cream. Personally I think pudim always tastes better the next day, and makes a great breakfast !