Chocolate cake with a VERY secret ingredient
Every time someone close to me has a birthday I get way too excited ! Maybe it’s because I was brought up with the most amazing cakes in the world (I even had Sleeping Beauty on a bed of ivy once !) or maybe it’s because we were always taught a birthday was the day you could be and do anything you want – it’s your special day ! Whatever the reason, I start preparing gifts 11 months and 30 days in advance and decorate anything I possibly can – including the birthday boy or girl.
Today is a very special day because it’s my Mister Marcel’s birthday. Although he refused to take a homemade cake to work (what is it with people who don’t feel the need to attract attention on their birthday ?!!), he will definitely NOT get out of eating cake for the rest of the week at home ! So, after a few hours of hard work, sweat and other glamourous things in the kitchen, I am proud to present a birthday cake with a very secret ingredient….
Do not judge a cake by its colour ! Well obviously it’s chocolate flavour, I can’t hide that, but it also contains…. SQUASH ! Tadaaa !
WAIT ! Don’t be put off ! This recipe comes from a book I was given by my Mom who, besides baking the crazily special birthday cakes mentioned above, is a bit of a health foodie (understatement). She’s one of those Mom’s who tries to stick fruit and veg in everything and who then pretends she doesn’t know what you’re talking about when you ask what she’s hidden in your food ! (Oh, they’re all like that ?!) So one day – I’m guessing in attempt to get me to bake healthier cakes – her Amazon account kindly sent me a book called Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache by Harry Eastwood. And, I have to say, it went straight to that list of five books I would take with me on a desert island. Not that I’d find much squash to include in cooking there.
Each recipe in the book is deliciously indulgent and yet each one contains a secret ingredient. I have tried strawberry and courgette cupcakes, aubergine chocolate cake (the one the author calls Chocolate Heartache - and the name makes so much sense when you read why) and a few recipes with squash in them. This one is the Light Chocolate Cake and so far it looks amazing ! The squash makes a springy crumb and yet doesn’t take anything away from the rich chocolatey taste – so the veggies actually add to the recipes rather than just contributing an extra portion of goodness !
I definitely recommend buying the book but if you need convincing before so, have a go at this recipe :
For the cake :
Ingredients : 160g caster sugar // 80g ground almonds // 120g white rice flour // 125ml buttermilk // 3 tbsp good quality cocoa // 3 free-range eggs // 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda // 1 tbsp baking powder // 200g peeled and grated squash // 1/4 tsp salt
Preheat your oven to 180°C / gas mark 4 / 350°F.
Beat the eggs and sugar together for 4″ and add all the other ingredients. Mix until smooth. Pour evenly into two greased tins (18cm). Bake for 20-30″.
For the icing :
Ingredients : 100g mascarpone // 200g icing sugar // 2 tbsp cocoa // 50g soft unsalted butter // pinch of salt
Mix the butter and 100g of sugar together until you have a smooth paste (takes a few minutes of hard work). Add the rest of the sugar, 50g of mascarpone, the cocoa and the salt. When the cake is cold, use half the icing to paste one cake on top of the other making a deliciously chocolatey sandwich. Now add the rest of the mascarpone to the remaining icing (this is my added touch) and use this to ice the top of the cake.
Enjoy but don’t tell until it’s all gone !
