Dark Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake – Sainsbury’s Magazine/Nigella

This week’s baking challenge came after much indecision.

Because of the sad demise of Borders, I managed to get my hands on a couple of new baking books to tempt me, however I spotted a Nigella chocolate cake in an old copy of Sainsbury’s magazine that looked too good to pass-up so decided to give it a whirl.

I can’t find this exact recipe online to share with you, but it’s basically a rich, dark chocolate cake with added raspberries. I’m scared of copyright law so get in contact if you’d like me to tell you more…

This week was the first time I had an almost disaster on my hands. I had to purchase a new springform cake tin, and having never used one before I foolishly didn’t check that the bottom of the tin was securely fastened. Needless to say the cake batter began to creep out of the edges, the only solution was to tip it all out, secure the bottom and pour it back in.

A fair amount of mess later (I also managed to spill the coffee needed for the recipe all over the floor) however and the cake was ready. As the raspberries had floated to the top I decided to turn the cake over, to give a more pleasing appearance to the top of the cake.

The recipe said the cake was best enjoyed warm, so there really was no option but to try it almost immediately out of the oven. This cake was absolutely beautiful, easily one of my favourite recipes so far. Rich, but not sickly, moist, soft and warm, this is perfectly accompanied by a glass of milk.

When cold it takes on a thicker and firmer texture, but is also delicious. One that I’ll definitely be baking again in the future.

Difficulty level: 2/5 Other than the spillage, this is just a case of mixing a load of ingredients together and pouring into a case. Simple.

Recipe amendments: They didn’t have cocoa powder in Sainsbury’s (shock horror) so I just used normal drinking chocolate. Didn’t seem to make too much difference, although perhaps making the cake a little sweeter.

Taste: 5/5

Chance of remake: 5/5 A definite winner.