February's bake of the month

This is simple to make yet tastes absolutely delicious. The cake is light and crumbly and has a yummy topping of chocolate fudgy icing. It would be perfect with a cup of tea in the afternoon....

The cake is made pretty much in the same way as ‘the jam sponge’, in that the eggs, still in their shells, are weighed and whatever it says on the scales, you weigh out that amount of flour, butter/margarine and sugar.

Suppose the two eggs weigh 4 ¾ oz’s (I always work in ‘old money’ but it’s the same principal with grams). Measure out 4 ¾ oz’s of self-raising flour, butter/margarine and caster sugar. No matter what the eggs weigh, always use the same weight for the flour, butter/margarine and sugar.

If, like our friends over the pond, you don’t use scales to weigh things out, simply use your favourite sponge cake recipe instead.

Simple chocolate fudge loaf cake

Ingredients:

• Two eggs
• Self-raising flour
• Caster sugar
• Butter/margarine
• Cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder

For the topping:

• 4 tablespoons of icing sugar – sieved
• 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder – sieved
• Water

Method:

• Line a 1lb loaf tin with baking parchment or a non-stick liner.
• Pre-heat oven to 180º c/Gas Mk 4. Fan oven 160ºc
• Weigh the eggs, still in their shells. Whatever the eggs weigh, that’s the amount you’ll need for the sugar, flour and cocoa power combined and butter/margarine. When you come to weigh out the flour and cocoa powder, start with the cocoa powder and weigh out 1 oz then make up the rest with the flour.
• Put the flour, cocoa and baking powders, sugar and butter/margarine into a bowl or mixer then add the two eggs.
• Beat well until everything is combined and the mixture is smooth to the point that it will drop off a spoon.
• Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and make a slight well in the centre of the cake. This will stop the centre from rising too much.
• Bake for 40 – 45 minutes until golden brown. To check to see if the cakes are cook, gently press the surface of the cake with a finger. If it springs back it’s cooked. You can also test it by using a skewer (or knitting needle or even a piece of spaghetti). Piece the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean then it’s done.
• Leave the cake to cool for about five minutes then remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the chocolate fudge topping mix the icing sugar and cocoa powder with enough water so the icing will drop off the spoon to form ribbons. Go careful when adding the water as it’s much easier to add a drop more water to thin the icing than adding more icing sugar to thicken it.
• Finally pour the icing over the cake. Don’t worry if some of it runs over the sides – it just means some lucky person gets more icing !!!!

Gertie xx