Totally Decadent Raspberry Chocolate Cake with Milk Tapioca Pudding

I love baking, I love chocolate, and I love raspberries. What a great combination when you mix them together and they end up as a luxurious weekend dessert.  The idea came to me yesterday in the Whittard of Chelsea shop when I noticed, fell in love with (and snapped it off the shelf) their delicious 70% Cocoa & Raspberry Hot Chocolate. 

I dreamt about it all night and this morning my heart was set on it, as I had imagined it: a delicious chocolate sponge with chocolate frosting and hints of raspberry. 

Decadent Raspberry Chocolate Cake 

The base - classic egg & vanilla sponge with 85% dark melted chocolate and Whittard of Chelsea raspberry cocoa.

5 medium sized eggs

4 tbs of sugar

essence of vanilla

5 tbs flour

1.5 sachet of baking power

1/2 sachet of baking soda

1 bar of good quality dark chocolate (85%)

1 slice of butter 

4 tbs of raspberry cocoa

50 ml full-fat milk

Method

Preheat the oven at 120 degrees 

1. In a bowl mix 2 tbs of sugar with the yolks and beat them hard till the sugar breaks. Add the vanilla and mix. 

2. In a separate bowl mix the egg whites with sugar and beat. 

3. Melt the chocolate with the butter (approx 25 gr)- when it comes to butter, I am never too generous :) 

4. Pour the melted chocolate over the egg yolks and mix. Work in the raspberry cocoa and add the milk, if it becomes too thick.

5. Pour the chocolate cream over the beaten egg whites and mix lightly. 

6. In a separate bowl mix 5 tbs of flour, the baking powder and the baking soda and mix to allow them to blend. Drizzle over the chocolate cream (5) and mix with a silicone spoon. 

7. Grease and flour a tin with a detachable ring. Bake for around 35 minutes at 120 degrees Celsius.

Chocolate frosting

half a bar of 85% dark chocolate

1 small bar of milk & white chocolate (from Ritter)

a (thin) slice of butter

50 ml of full-fat milk

2 tbs of raspberry cocoa

Method

Melt the chocolate and the butter and add the raspberry cocoa and the milk.  Drizzle the hot chocolate over the cake, by this time, it should have baked and cooled down.

I love the chocolate ripples.

 Milk Tapioca Pudding with Green Tea

half a glass of powder milk

2 glasses of warm full-fat milk

3 tbs of tapioca flour

1 sachet of gelatine

2 tbs of condensed milk

1 tsp spiced loose green tea (from Whittard of Chelsea)

Method

1. Dissolve the powder milk in the warm milk. Work in the tapioca flour and add more milk. Cook on a low heat until it starts to bubble. 

2. Dissolve the gelatine in cold milk, heat & steam. 

3. Mix the gelatine with the tapioca pudding (step 1 and 2), add the condensed milk. Transfer to small cups and decorate with spiced tea. 

I truly loved this cake. It reminded me of the voluptuous original Sacher Torte that you can only have in Vienna... Yes, it was really good. I think I have finally sorted out my baking problems: I've discovered & have learnt more about the six settings of my oven and, by trial and error (!!!), I found out the right balance between baking time and ideal moisture.

When you are new to baking :) (like me), you must always keep your chin up- make mistakes, dump the cake, start a new one until you get it right. This week I made an average lemon cake with orange blossom water and a disaster of an apple tart with lavender. Bad combination. I should have known better, but I am a curious person in the kitchen and - at the end of the day -some great cakes came to life purely by mistake. Maybe the next one will be mine :) xx