As promised I am going to tell you all about my move, finally, back to Oxted! As you may remember we only moved 18 months a go to the Watercolour in Nutfield, as lovely as it was living there with the beautiful lakes, it was however only suppose to be temporary until we found our perfect home in Oxted.


Well we have found it, it may not be overly pretty from the outside and it may be a bit of a project, but from day one it felt like home and to me that is the most important thing in the World. It has a huge kitchen, also very important, space for the Children and a gorgeous garden with lots and lots of treasures which I know I will be blogging about over the coming months. We have found rhubarb, gooseberries, black currants, raspberries, strawberries, including a patch of the smaller wild ones and an abundance of fruit trees, which so far apple are the only one which I can identify, but I am sure the gardener will be able to tell me more.


I am so excited, I can not wait to get baking with all this lovely fruit, making jam, cordials, even the odd bottle of wine or two!



Anyway, you have probably heard enough by now about the house, lets get back to today’s recipe and I bring to you ‘chocolate’! Hubby and I were watching the Hairy Bikers Bakeation the other night and they were in Austria, Hubby fell in love with this cake and asked me to make it for him when I got time. How could I resist a chance to get in to my new kitchen and bake.


So here is ‘Schokogugelhupf’ Cake, you will need a gugelhupf or ring-shaped cake tin for this Viennese cake, which is served with afternoon coffee in the cafés of the city. Like the Sachertorte  http://dianastaveley.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/sachertorte-as-seen-on-great-british.html also from this region, it is what I would class as a fairly dry cake, so please do not bake this, thinking you will have a lovely dense, moist cake, as its not, but served as it is intended with a strong black espresso it is the perfect accompaniment and I am sure you will love it.


Buon appetito.


Ingredients


For the cake
150g/5½oz butter, plus 2 tsp, softened
50g/2oz ground almonds, plus 1 tbsp for dusting
150g/5½oz dark chocolate, broken into pieces
150g/5½oz icing sugar, sifted
4 eggs, separated
125g/4½oz self-raising flour
½ tsp baking powder


For the icing and decoration
125g/4½oz dark chocolate
40g/1½oz butter
1 tbsp golden syrup
15–20g/¾oz flaked or slivered almonds
sugar crystals (optional)
As you will see from my photo, I used sprinkles as Hubby loves them! 


Preparation method
For the cake, grease the cake tin with the two teaspoons of butter. Sprinkle the tablespoon of almonds into the tin and shake until the inside of the tin is completely coated with a light dusting of almonds.


Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir the chocolate until smooth, then leave to cool for at least 15 minutes.


Preheat the oven to 190°C/375F/Gas 5.


Put the butter and icing sugar in a large bowl and cream them together until smooth and light. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat in the cooled chocolate, then the 50g/2oz of ground almonds, flour and baking powder.


Whisk the egg whites in a large, clean bowl with an electric hand-whisk until they are stiff but not dry. Stir about two heaped tablespoons of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, then gently fold in the rest with a metal spoon.


Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 35–40 minutes, until it is well risen and beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin. Leave the cake to stand for 2 or 3 minutes, then gently run a knife around the sides and turn it out on to a wire rack to cool.


To make the icing, melt the chocolate with the butter and syrup in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth, then leave to cool for 5 minutes.


Slowly drizzle the icing over the cake and allow it to slide slowly down the sides. If the icing moves too quickly or doesn’t cover the cake properly, let it cool for a few more minutes and then try again. Work slowly to get the best coverage. Leave the iced cake to stand for 10 minutes, then scatter with the almonds and sugar crystals if using.


Set aside for an hour or so until the icing is set before serving.