Saturday 7 February 2009

Crispy chocolate cake

I'm posting early again this week as am off on more travels for work tomorrow. I've been dodging the snow that's dogged the UK so far and hope my luck holds out and my flight is untroubled!

Now - a trip down memory lane. One of the first things we all probably baked as children were chocolate rice crispie or cornflake cakes. Apart from being easy to make, they taste good!


This recipe harks back to early memories of baking but adds some sophistication too. The chocolate rice crispies are used as a topping for a squidgy, indulgent chocolate cake. The whole concoction uses three bars of chocolate – do I have your attention yet?

My one disappointment with making this recipe is that you are meant to use spelt flour. Spelt is an ancient grain that isn’t wheat based, so people with wheat intolerance find they can often eat spelt with no ill effects. It also has a nutty taste. While the recipe (from a UK national Sunday paper) assured me that spelt flour was widely available I couldn’t find it in any health food store, supermarket or even Borough food market. If I lived way out in the sticks I would accept this, but these shops were all in central London! So I used self raising flour and it worked perfectly.


My other, voluntary, substitution was to use good quality milk chocolate instead of the recommended dark. I often find that dark chocolate can be too bitter and, given the low sugar content of this cake, opted for something a little lighter and sweeter. The cocoa content of the chocolate you use will decide how dark your cake will be – as I used milk chocolate mine is a lighter colour.

You will notice that the topping is falling off my cake – if I made the cake again I think I would double up the amount of chocolate for the topping; it didn’t seem enough to bind the rice crispies together.


Ingredients:
For the cake:
150g dark or milk chocolate (I used Green & Blacks milk which has a 34% cocoa content)
120g unsalted butter
3 eggs
30g refined spelt flour (if you can’t find this use self raising flour)
80g caster sugar

For the topping:
150g dark or milk chocolate (I used milk; next time I would use 300g of chocolate)
40g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
50g rice crispies


How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- Grease or line a 20cm springform cake tin.
- Start with the cake: break up the chocolate and melt it along with the butter in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. The water should not touch the bowl.
- Once you have a glossy runny chocolate mix, remove the bowl from the heat and beat in the eggs one at a time. I used an electric hand whisk to make this easier.
- Fold in the flour and sugar.
- Pour – for it will be very runny – into the prepared cake tin and bake for approx 2o minutes or until the cake feels firm in the centre. As it is such a squidgy cake the skewer test won’t really work. Mine took 23 minutes.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before adding the topping. I made the cake the day before I wanted it and left it untopped. The topping is best eaten on the day made as it starts to go soggy after that.
- Make the topping: break up the chocolate and melt it along with the butter in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. The water should not touch the bowl. Stir until smooth then remove from the heat.
- Stir in the golden syrup.
- Stir in the rice crispies and ensure that all are covered with the chocolate mix.
- Spoon over the top of the cake and spread. Press the crispies down at the edge of the cake to stop them sliding off.
- Allow to cool.
- If you’re using dark high cocoa content chocolate it’s an idea to serve this cake with cream. If you’re using milk chocolate it’s nicest on its own, maybe just some icing sugar dusted on the top.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

27 comments:

Sugar Duchess said...

Chocolate rice krispies? And three bars of chocolate? This looks like my kind of stuff. Yum!

trash said...

Oh? I live out in the sticks and can get it here. Would you like some? ;-)

The Caked Crusader said...

Thanks for your kind offer Trashalou, but the CCM has since found me some! Even a super hero needs a support team sometimes!

Snooky doodle said...

This cake looks nice and yummy. I have to try this I ll use spelt flout though cause I found it at the supermarket.

glamah16 said...

Funny it calls for Spelt and you souldnt find it. I see it regulary here. Safe travels.

Sara said...

I've never seen anything like this before, it sounds so good!

Anonymous said...

ahh i'm glad your flight's alright. the snow earlier this week was pretty troublsome. ;) this cake is amazing! i love tht topping. x

pigpigscorner said...

Looks really good with rice krispies! Where do you get spelt flour?

Cakelaw said...

This looks wonderful Crusader - I think the fact that the crispy bits are falling off makes itmore fun to eat!!

Maggie said...

Holland & Barratt sell spelt flour - I saw some in the shop just the other day........well, I think I did!
Lovely cake, I used to love rice krispie cakes, in fact, still do.

Lisa said...

I think a nice wedge of this alongside a glass of milk could easily count as breakfast.

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

What a great idea CC. You are just so creative. I would never have dreamed this up in a month of Sundays! I don't mind the top tumbling, I bet it still tasted good :)

Katie said...

What a novel idea. I wouldn't have ever thought of putting crispy cakes on top of a cake but it would add a nice crunch to the soft sponge texture.
Hope you flight went ok.

Dee said...

Happy travelling!
My son will LOVE this cake. Never tried baking with spelt but I've seen it on the shelves, so gotta give it a go.

Emily said...

Mmm, I bet chocolate cake with rice krispies on top would be scrumptious! The cereal would give it a nice crunchy texture.

Looks fantastic!

Sam said...

I used to love making rice crispie cakes, this brings it all back!

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home said...

Wow! This looks yummy!

Rosie said...

This looks wonderful C.C. Waitrose sell spelt flour.

Happy travelling!

Rosie x

Elizabeth said...

I've started baking again (not sure why I ever stopped) and I was lucky enough to find your blog. You have become one of my baking inspirations!

I have some questions: What exactly is "mixed spice?" I'm a bit of a spice nut so I don't have any mixtures - I like to work from the basic spices. Perhaps it is what is sold as "pumpkin pie spice" here in the US?

I have come to realize that I don't have near enough cake pans and cookbooks (Commandment 6) so I have been working to increase my supply of both. Are there any recipe books that you consider "must haves?"

The Caked Crusader said...

Hi Elizabeth

Glad you've decided to start baking again.

Mixed spice is a blend of cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, clove, pimento and ginger. Is it similar to "apple pie spice" available in the US?

I was pondering my "must have" baking books and came up with the following 4:

Nigella Lawson "How to be a domestic goddess" - I love the way she writes about food.

The Essential Baking Cookbook published by Murdoch Books. This was one of my first cookbooks and has so many wonderful recipes

Sue McMahon "Cupcakes" - has great basic recipes that I've used as a starting point to come up with my own cupcakes

Australian Womens' Weekly "Bake". Any AWW book is worth buying but this is a huge book packed with hundreds of fab recipes

Hope these bring you as much happiness as they have me!

Nevisknitter said...

Made this on Tuesday to share with my bible study group, went down a treat, they have all asked for the recipe.
I modified it slightly by spreading a thin layer of melted chocolate on the cake then just mixing the rest of the chocolate with rice crispies for the topping.

Olivia said...

Oh my goodness, anything with rice krispie cereal sounds great to me. I never thought to use it as a cake topping...how innovative.

Anonymous said...

I am not clear about the rice crispies.Can you tell me how do they look like.thanks

The Caked Crusader said...

Hi Anonymous

This link should tell you all you'll need to know:
http://www.kelloggs.co.uk/products/ricekrispies/cereal/rice_krispies.aspx

Hope it helps!

Anonymous said...

I cant make my cake.i have tried it 2 times and both times the cake didnt rise,
I am doing exactly what is in the receipy...need help!

The Caked Crusader said...

Hi Anonymous

Don't worry - this isn't a cake that rises on cooking - you can see that from my photos. It's a rich, thick, densely textured cake rather than a light and airy sponge.
If it tastes nice then you're doing nothing wrong!

Anonymous said...

This recipe may be over 5 years old, but I've only just found it and it's delicious! I used self-raising flour and soft brown sugar in the cake. 150g dark chocolate worked a treat on the Rice Krispie topping, I also added 40g of raisins to the Rice Krispie mixture and popped the whole cake in the fridge, which set the topping a treat. Thank you so much.