Celebrating my 4th Blog Anniversary with Fruity Orange Tea Loaf GF

Wow I can’t believe it's been 4 years today since I started my little blog. At the time I don’t think I would ever have imagined I’d still be blogging 4 years later. I’m pleased to say I get just as much, if not more, out of blogging now that I did when it was all new and exciting. Blogging has opened my eyes to the recipes, cuisines, cultures and weird and wonderful ingredients there are available out there in the world. It has encouraged and enabled me to make dishes I would probably never have attempted or even heard of if I had not discovered blogging. You, the readers and other bloggers are mostly to thank for this – so thank you! Ok, enough of the Oscar impersonations!

One of my life’s little pleasures is always having some sort of sweet treat after lunch. I’m a firm believer that a little bit of what you fancy does you good! Sometimes I crave slices of rich and indulgent cake, while other times a simple pot of yoghurt fits the bill perfectly. Recently I’ve been after something sweet, yet simple and homely. Nothing too elaborate or fussy and this fruity orange tea loaf is perfect for just such a craving.

I recently received an email from a family friend who said she had been advised to follow a wheat free diet. She had bought a gluten free fruity cake when out for the day and enjoyed it so much she wanted a recipe to make her own. She described a moist, richly fruited loaf cake and identified the fruits it contained. She asked if I had a recipe. I didn’t, but never one to pass up a challenge I told her I’d see what I could do and this moist, fruity, lightly spiced tea loaf is the result.

The ingredients list she gave me included fruit juice, but no oil or butter. Based on this I decided that the bread was probably similar to a tea loaf – where fruits are soaked overnight in strong tea before being baked into a cake, with the extra tea used as the liquid/binding agent. I decided to use a mix of dried fruits and soak them in fresh orange juice to achieve a similar result. This worked brilliantly and resulted in extremely plump and juicy fruits and really enhanced their flavour.

The batter is very soft and wet, but it has a long slow bake in the oven which allows a thick, slightly chewy sticky crust to form, while keeping the inside lovely and moist. The batter looks as though it’s going to overflow from the tin, but it doesn’t rise much due to its high fruit to batter ratio, so there were no oven disasters.

Despite being densely fruited, the cake itself is not in the least bit dense. It’s soft and springy and actually makes a ‘squish’ sound as you take a bite through all the succulent fruit. It’s a delicious way to have a bit of ‘me time’ snuggled on a comfy chair, tearing off little bits with your fingers. Plus, with no added fat there’s no need to feel guilty about it either.

Fruity Orange Tea Loaf GF

Ingredients100g dates – stones removed (if pre-chopped make sure they are dusted in rice flour, not wheat flour)

100g sultanas

100g raisins
50g dried apricots
275ml fresh orange juice

150ml water
50g soft brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp mixed spice

Zest of 1 lemon
250g gluten free self raising flour

20g ground almonds

½ tsp gluten free baking powder

MethodChop the dates and dried apricots into pieces the size of a large raisins and add them to a bowl along with the sultanas and raisins.

Measure the orange juice and water into a small saucepan and heat until steaming. It does not need to simmer or boil. Pour the hot juice over the dried fruit, stir briefly and then cover the top tightly with clingfilm and leave to steep overnight or for at least 10-12 hours.
The next day, the fruit will be very plump and juicy looking. Some of the fruit juice will still remain in the bowl which is fine.
Grease a loaf tin, approx 10x20cm, and pre-heat the oven to 150C and line the base and up the two longest sides with a long strip of greaseproof paper.
Stir the sugar, mixed spice and lemon zest into the soaking fruit. Stir until the sugar has mostly dissolved.
Add the eggs and mix well until they are evenly combined.
Scatter the flour, almonds and baking powder over the surface of the mixture. Use a large spatula or wooden spoon to beat the flour into the fruit mix, starting in the centre and working your way out towards the edge until everything is well incorporated (it will be a very wet mix).
Pour the batter into the prepared tin (it will reach the top) and bake for 1 hour and 30 – 40 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out relatively clean (it may still be sticky if you hit a raisin).
Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Serve in thick slices. I like it just as it is but it can be served with butter if that’s your thing.

Keeps well for 3-4 days wrapped in clingfilm and tastes great lightly toasted under the grill (don’t put it in a toaster!)

Tickled Pink Beetroot Cupcakes for Valentines Day (GF)

On one of my recent visits to a health food shop in search of some gluten free flours I came across a jar of beetroot powder. What drew my attention was its vibrant purple colour. I had never seen anything like this before and instantly added it to my basket, despite having no clue what to do with it. It turns out it is dehydrated beetroot that has been crushed to a fine powder. Beetroot is highly nutritious but what you are meant to be with the powder I have no idea. The minute I unscrewed the lid the scent of pure beetroot wafted up. Earthy, sweet and mysterious. Have you ever seen anything like it before??

I knew instantly I wanted to try baking with it and decided to use it for some Valentines day inspired cupcakes. When I added it to the cake mix the batter turned a vibrant shocking purple colour. I was so excited and decided I could make some purple velvet cupcakes, based on a red velvet cupcakes – only with natural colouring! However things didn’t turn out quite as I’d hoped. After baking, the tops of the cupcakes were a rich deep reddish-purple colour but when I bit into one the inside crumb colour was a reddish golden, rather than the deep rich purple colour I’d hoped for. I’ve seen this happen with other beetroot cakes – what chemical baking magic happens in the oven that makes the colour evaporate I don’t know, but at least they had a lovely golden colour. (Sorry for the lack of photos of the batter, I was so excited I forgot to take any!)

Despite being a little disappointed at the colour, I’m not one to let perfectly good cupcakes go to waste and so decided to decorate them with pink heart sprinkles and some sparkly new edible glitter I’ve just discovered. I also made a few love hearts out of fondant for a more personal touch. The cupcakes themselves were delicious. Light and moist thanks to the almonds and sour cream. The beetroot lent a subtle earthy sweetness to the cakes that was not obviously beetroot, but just added that little something extra. I’ll have to experiment again and try adding more beetroot powder for a stronger hit. Whoever you spend it with – have a great Valentines Day!

P.S. anyone know what the real use of beetroot powder is?

Tickled Pink Beetroot Cupcakes

Ingredients
80g gluten free Doves self raising flour
40g ground almonds
120g unsalted butter
120g caster sugar
2 tsp beetroot powder (available for some health food shops or online)
2 eggs
1 tbsp sour cream
1 tsp baking powder

Method
Preheat oven to 170C and line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases.
Make sure the butter is very soft. Place the butter, flour, almonds, sugar, beetroot powder, baking powder, sour cream and eggs into a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. (It will be a shocking purple colour)
Divide the batter into each cupcake liner and bake for 18-20 minutes until risen and springy to the touch.
Transfer to a cooling wire and leave to cool completely before topping with buttercream.
Makes 12 cupcakes

Simple Vanilla Buttercream
130g unsalted butter
260g icing sugar
30ml milk
1 tsp vanilla

Method
Make sure the butter is soft before beating it until light and fluffy.
Sift over the icing sugar, half at a time, beating it into the butter between each addition. Add some of the milk if the mixture is too stiff. Finally beat in the remaning milk and vanilla until you have a smooth creamy icing.
Pipe the buttercream on top of the cupcakes using a star nozzle.
Decorate with sprinkles and edible glitter or any other way you wish.

Apple & Elderflower Gluten Free Granola

I love the toasting smell of baking homemade granola, almost as much as I enjoy eating it. The weather outside is quite miserable at present, overcast with strong gusty winds that play havoc with my long curly hair. The phrase ‘hedge’ and ‘backwards’ come to mind the minute I step outside these past few days. So today I decided to stay indoors and indulge in a little granola making. There is nothing like the warm toasting aroma of nuts and grains to make me feel all warm and cosy.

I’m still not allowed to try eating oats at the moment, so I had to experiment with some other gluten free grains and cereals. I was a little unsure how they would take to being toasted, but they worked perfectly and resulted in a much wider variety of flavours and textures than if I had used oats.

As I was hunting in the cupboard for some honey, I can across a jar of homemade elderflower syrup that I made last summer. It was meant to have been elderflower jelly, only it didn’t set and I ended up with syrup instead. At the time I was annoyed and stuck it in the cupboard but now I saw the perfect way of making use of it and decided to use that instead of the honey for the mix.

The millet flakes and ground linseeds are quite fine and powdery, but rather than be lost amongst the mix, the elderflower coating caused them to stick to the larger nuts and grains, giving them a fabulous knobbly nutty crunchy surface. Plus, it means there is no powdery dust lingering at the bottom as can happen with some mixes.

The aroma that wafted from the oven as the granola baked was almost intoxicating. Warm toasty nuts and grains mingled with sweet fragrant scent of the elderflower. Very summery and smoothing.

The elderflower is not immediately apparent once the granola has cooled down but as you chew a spoonful, it develops into a wonderfully subtle floral sweetness with almost honey overtones, only a little lighter and more delicate.

Brown rice flakes are not usually all that palatable eaten raw, as they can be a little chalky and tacky once wet. I often combine them with some other flakes to make porridge, but in this case they work perfectly in the granola. The toasting in the oven makes them crisp and crunchy, adding a great texture alongside the other ingredients.

Each flake, puff, nut and fruit add their own unique flavour and texture, creating one delicious and highly varied mouthful of granola. Wholesome, healthy and delicious. The perfect way to start a morning, although, I can see myself munching a handful of this at any time of day. Tray a bowlful with a little cold milk when it’s still warm from the oven – gorgeous!

Apple & Elderflower Gluten Free Granola

Ingredients
50g millet flakes
50g brown rice flakes
30g buckwheat puffs
25g brown rice puffs
40g corn/flax/quinoa/amaranth flakes (Nature’s Path, Mesa Sunrise brand)
35g flax/linseeds
30g pecans
30g hazelnuts
20g flaked coconut
40g dried apple rings
40g dates
2 tbsp neutral oil (I used rapeseed)
3 tbsp elderflower syrup/cordial

Method
Preheat the oven to 170C.
Roughly chop the nuts and place them into a large bowl along with all the flakes and puffs.
Pulse the flax seeds in a small processor until crushed and broken, but do not blitz for too long or they will start to turn to mush. (You need to crack them to release their goodness as the body can’t break down their skin if left whole). Add them to the bowl.
Mix the oil and elderflower syrup together in a glass and then pour over the dry ingredients. Mix and toss everything together well, ensuring that all the ingredients are lightly coated in the syrup.
Pour the grains onto a large baking tray with sides. Shake gently to spread the mixture into an even layer and bake for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, weigh out the coconut and keep to one side. Use scissors to cut the dried apple and dates into small pieces, about the side of a hazelnut.
When the 10 minutes are up, remove the tray from the oven, scatter over the coconut and mix everything together to ensure an even browning.
Return the tray to the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes more. Keep an eye on it as you don’t want the coconut to burn.
Remove the pan from the oven, scatter over the apple and dates and mix well. Leave the granola to cool on the tray before storing in an airtight container until required.
Crisp, nutty, chewy, fruity and crunchy with a subtle fragrant elderflower sweetness. Gorgeous eaten ever so slightly warm with cold milk or yoghurt.

No Animals Were Harmed in the Baking of this Bread!

This was the sight that greeted me when I lifted the lid on the bread maker this morning. I decided to try baking a gluten free loaf in the bread maker again. I have tried once before and ended up with a brick of wallpaper paste but felt this time might be better. The smells coming from the machine were promising but it seems smell can be deceptive. My bread ingredients seemed to have vanished and been replaced with something resembling half a squashed hedgehog…??

It had not mixed properly as there were shards of burnt crust flicked up the sides of the bowl and odd spikes and pools of different coloured flours. The bread/thing was all squished into one corner as if it too was ashamed to call itself a loaf. That hole in the bottom was meant to be the middle of the loaf – where the paddle goes. The site was so funny I couldn’t help but laugh.

Oddly enough, if you cut straight into the middle the bread inside is not all that bad. It had a good flavour, slightly sour somehow and very moist, although rather dense and a little squeaky around the crust (maybe it’s a hedgehog that ate a mouse?)

The crust had quite an appealing dark chocolaty brown colour (once you get passed the squashed hedgehog appearance) and the inside was a duller greyer brown hue. I liked the overall flavour, so I will try the bread again, only this time I think I’ll trust my own hands and forget the bread maker!!! What happened – any ideas?? I used the gluten free setting on the machine and put the ingredients in the right order. Anyone else got odd results from a bread maker?

Parsnip, Apple & Orange Pecan Cake with Maple Mascarpone Frosting (GF)

This cake may well be the best cake I have made in weeks…months…possibly even all year! I know that’s an incredibly bold statement, but eat a slice of this cake and you’ll see where I’m coming from. It’s moist, slightly sticky, sweet and jam packed full of flavour. It’s fruity, a little nutty and filled with a luxuriously creamy maple mascarpone frosting.

Parsnips in a cake may sound like an odd idea, but they are sweeter than carrots and they often make an appearance in baked goods. Just as with carrot cake, you don’t take a bite of this cake and think ‘parsnips’ they are there to add a natural sweetness and incredible moist texture. Apple and orange also lend their juicy sweetness and it’s actually the flavour of the orange and spices that hit you first, before all the other flavours and textures pop up. The mascarpone frosting is only slightly sweetened with the maple syrup, retaining a lot of its cooling creamy smoothness which leaves a wonderful rich and decadent feeling in your mouth that has you clamoring for another bite.

The texture of the sponge is moist and slightly dense, but in a gorgeous sticky fruity way. You can see from the slices that this doesn’t prevent it from being a light, springy cake. It needs that little bit of substance to support and balance the combination of flavours.

I made this cake for my mum’s birthday last week. I actually found this recipe a year ago, just after her last birthday, and have been sitting on it for a year, waiting for parsnips to come back into season and for her birthday to roll round again. It was definitely worth the wait and due to its moist texture, a simple flour substitution was all that was required to make it gluten free. Best cake ever!

Parsnip, Apple & Orange Pecan Cake with Maple Mascarpone Frosting (GF)
(Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food)

Ingredients
175g butter
200g light soft brown sugar
100g golden syrup
3 eggs
250g Doves gluten free self raising flour (or regular flour)
2tsp gluten free baking powder
2tsp mixed spice
250g parsnips (about 2 large)
125g eating apple (I used Cox)
50g pecan nuts
Zest and juice 1 orange

Maple Mascarpone Frosting
250g mascarpone cheese
2tbsp maple syrup
3-4tbsp milk

For the Cake

Heat oven to 180C. Grease and line two 8inch/20cm sandwich tins.
Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup together in a large pan over low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, Peel the parsnips and coarsely grate them along with the apple (you can leave the skin on but remove the core). Roughly chop the pecans and finely grate the zest from the orange.
Using a large spatula, whisk the eggs into the melted sugar mixture, then stir in the flour, baking powder and mixed spice. Add the parsnip, apple, pecans and orange zest. Squeeze in the juice from the zested orange and mix well.
Divide the batter between the tins (it will be quite full) and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and the tops spring back when pressed lightly.
Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

For the Frosting

Place the mascarpone in a bowl and leave for 15 minutes to warm to room temperature.
Add the maple syrup and beat together until well incorporated. Add enough milk so that you achieve a thick, yet spreadable consistency.
Place one cake layer on a serving plate and place spoonfuls of the frosting over the surface. Use a knife to spread the frosting out into an even layer, right to the edges of the cake.
Top with the second cake layer and dust the top lightly with icing sugar.
Serve in generous slices. The cake becomes even moister and stickier the following day.

Rye-Style Gluten Free Bread

I’ve been getting on well with my gluten free diet, I’ve found a couple of premade breads I like and what with my many baking experiments I don’t feel I’m missing out on much. However, one of the things I have been disappointed with is the lack of artisan dark brown or rye style breads. You know the ones I mean – the ones with the crunchy crust, the moist dense texture and a smell of molasses. Most gluten free bread companies seem to be trying their hardest to produce breads that are similar to store-bought white or brown sliced or pappy round rolls. While there are now some very good gluten free alternatives on the market, I never used to buy this kind of bread myself. I always favoured the fresher, crunchier, denser, more natural loaf. A dark rye loaf was a particular favourite. I soon came to the conclusion that the only way to satisfy my craving was to bake one myself.

This left me in a bit of a quandary as my previous gluten free bread making experiments had produced breads that were at best, edible. Not only that but I was worried about recreating the right texture and flavour as rye is now on the ‘forbidden’ list, so I put it off.

As I have learnt more about the different flours over the past few months, my confidence in combining them has grown. Some add nutty or savoury notes, others are good at adding a sticky gumminess and some have a coarse or sandy texture. Last weekend I decided it was time to try and create my rye-style loaf.

The main bulk of the flour was gram flour for its moist, smooth texture and brown teff flour for its wholegrain toasty flavour. I then added potato and tapioca flours for their sticky binding abilities along with a little black treacle which helped deeper the colour and gave it that dark slightly, bitter note you sometimes get with rye bread.

I decided to bake the bread inside a preheated casserole dish, a method that has proved very successful at getting a thick crisp outer crust to bread in the past. I’m thrilled to say it worked a treat and resulted in a very thick, crisp, crunchy, nutty outer crust to my bread. You can see how wonderfully thick it was from the slice.

The aroma that wafted out of the oven as it baked was sweet and fruity, with a slightly sharp twang that reminded me of the smell of young fruit chutney. It smelt promising. The bread felt quite dense, but then rye bread does too so I wasn’t put off. The golden crust was so thick it was almost a little hard to cut the first slice, but hiding beneath that hard exterior was a soft, moist closely textured crumb.

I took a bite and as the breads crust went ‘cru…nch’ a huge smile spread across my face, oh how I’ve missed that texture. The inside crumb was light and moist, quite dense but not heavy with a savoury wholesome flavour. I cut another slice and it didn’t crumble into dust or break apart. Nor did it turn to powder in my mouth or become a horrible gummy mess – it tasted like ‘real’ bread – oh joy!

If you are in search of a fluffy springy bread then this bread is probably not for you, but if you like your bread with a bit of crunch and attitude then I suggest you give this a go. It still needs a bit of tweaking but it’s certainly a good place to start. Leftovers made fantastic toast too!

Rye-Style Gluten Free Bread

Ingredients
300g gram/chickpea flour
200g brown teff flour
50g potato flour
50g tapioca flour
2½ tsp xanthan gum
15g dried yeast
1½ tsp salt
1 tbsp black treacle
50ml olive oil
350ml warm water

Method
Sift the gram flour into a large bowl to break up any clumps. Add the other flours, xanthan gum, yeast and salt. Mix together until combined.
Pour in the oil, black treacle and warm water and mix together using the tips of your fingers on one hand, until it begins to form a dough.
Tip the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead for 1-2 minutes until the dough is smooth and tacky to the touch, but not overly sticky. It will have the consistency more of pastry dough than bread dough as the flour has no elasticity as it’s gluten free.
Place the dough into a clean baking tray and loosely cover the top with clingfilm. Place the dough in a warm place and allow to rise for 2-3 hours. It won’t double in size, but it should puff up slightly. Alternatively, place the dough in the fridge overnight before allowing to sit at room temperature for 2 hours before continuing the next day.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 230C and place a casserole dish, complete with lid, in the oven to warm up.
Once at temperature, place your bread dough inside the hot casserole dish and cover with the lid. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake for a further 15 minutes until crisp to the touch and a dark golden brown.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool before slicing.
It has a thick crisp crust with a moist dense textured crumb that doesn’t fall apart on slicing. Tastes great as bread, but also makes ultra crispy toast.

Daring Bakers January 2011 Challenge: Joconde Imprime. Chocolate and Hazelnut Gateaux with Raspberry Cream & Dark Chocolate Ganache (GF)

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

I was so excited by this challenge. I have often seen beautifully designed, striped or swirled, sponge desserts in bakery windows and dreamed of creating similar things myself, but I never knew how they were made. Well, now and I know and…I’ll let you in on a secret… it’s not difficult either!

Your simply pipe your design of choice onto a baking tray, place it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up (so that the rest of the sponge mixture doesn’t ruin the design), cover with a joconde sponge, bake, turn it out and ta-da! Beautifully decorated sponge, ready for adding that wow factor to the outside of desserts, gateau’s and mousses etc. Magic!

Joconde sponge is a special flexible sponge which allows you to wrap it around cakes and desserts without it cracking or breaking. This is thanks to its use of very little flour and butter, with ground nuts and eggs making up the majority of the ingredients. This also means it’s fantastically easy to convert to being gluten free – hurrah!

I already knew I wanted to use my joconde sponge to create a chocolate and raspberry gateau to act as my sister’s birthday cake. I decided to use hazelnuts in place of the almonds as I think they taste delicious when paired with chocolate and raspberries. With this in mind I dyed some of my batter with cocoa powder and a little with pink food dye to tied in the chocolate and raspberry colours. I had great fun creating little swirly circles and dots with a piping bag and I love how the finished sponge turned out.

After baking I used the joconde to line a large ring mould which I layered with discs of gluten free chocolate cake, dark chocolate ganache, more cake, raspberry cream, another layer of cake and then a final layer of ganache! How wickedly indulgent! I then dusted it with some edible gold glitter to give it some birthday sparkle.

I didn’t let my sister see the design of the cake until it was time to remove the ring mould. Everyone loved seeing the swirly dotty design of the outer sponge. It really added some wow factor. Cutting into the cake revealed the truly indulgent layers of cake, dark chocolate ganache and raspberry cream. All in all it was a fabulous cake and so delicious that no one would ever know it was gluten free. I’ll definitely be making one again in the future, the decoration possibilities are endless!

Joconde Imprime (GF)

Ingredients
85g ground almonds (I used freshly ground hazelnuts)
75g icing sugar
25g Doves gluten free flour
3 large eggs
3 large egg whites
10g caster sugar
30g unsalted butter, melted

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C and line a large 13x18 inch swiss roll tin with silicone paper.
In a clean mixing bowl whip the egg whites and sugar to firm, glossy peeks. Reserve in a separate clean bowl to use later.
Sift together the ground almonds (hazelnuts), icing sugar and flour. (This can be done into your dirty egg white bowl)
On medium speed, add the eggs a little at a time. Mix well after each addition. Mix until smooth and light.
Fold in one third reserved whipped egg whites to nut mixture to lighten the batter. Fold in remaining whipped egg whites. Do not over mix.
Fold in melted butter.
Take one or two scoops of batter and place into small bowls. Set the rest of the batter aside to use later. Colour or dye the small amounts of batter using cocoa powder or food dye so that it provides a contrasting colour to the original batter.
Here is where you can be creative. Fill piping bags with the coloured batter and pipe a design onto a baking tray that has been covered in silicone paper. Make lines, swirls, words, anything that takes your fancy.
Place the decorated tray in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up.
Then, remove the tray from the freezer and quickly pour the Joconde batter over the design. Spread evenly to completely cover the pattern.
Bake at 200C until the joconde bounces back when slightly pressed, around 12 minutes.
Once baked, cover the surface with a sheet of greaseproof and a damp tea towel and leave until cool.
Once cool, turn out onto a flat surface and carefully remove the silicone paper. Your design should now show up against the pale base of the Joconde batter.
Trim the edges off the sponge and then cut into strips and use to line the inside rim of a large or small individual ring moulds, with the design facing outwards. Press the edges together so they will stay together once removed from the moulds. Fill the moulds as you wish and chill for an hour before unmoulding.
I chose to turn my dessert into a chocolate gateau for my sister’s birthday. I layered the inside with discs of chocolate cake layered with dark chocolate ganache and raspberry cream.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Gateaux with Raspberry Cream & Dark Chocolate Ganache (GF)

1 x Hazelnut Joconde (recipe above)
1 x 8inch chocolate cake (see below)
Dark chocolate ganache (see below)
Raspberry cream (see below)


Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

180g Doves white self raising flour
2 tsp gluten free baking powder
180g caster sugar
180g butter
3 eggs
30g cocoa powder
40g sour cream

Method
Preheat the oven to 170C and line two 8inch round cake tins with greaseproof paper.
Simply place all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk together until smooth and well combined.
Divide the batter between the two tins, making one tin have slightly more batter in than the other, about 40 to 60% ratio.
Bake for 22-25 minutes until risen and springy to the touch.
Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire wrack and leaving to cool.

Dark chocolate Ganache

200ml double cream
200g dark chocolate
20g butter

Method
Heat the cream gently in a small saucepan until it just comes to a simmer. Meanwhile, break the chocolate into small pieces and place into a bowl.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and leave to sit for 3 minutes without touching it. Then gently fold/mix the cream into the melting chocolate to create a thick glossy ganache.
Cut the butter into small cubes and stir into the ganache.
Use quickly.

Raspberry Cream

150g raspberries
20g icing sugar
100ml double cream

Method
Crush the raspberries with the sugar until broken down.
Lightly whip the double cream until it is just starting to form soft peaks.
Add the raspberries, juice and all, and stir to combine. Don’t worry f it looks a little soft as it thickens up in the fridge once assembled.
Use fairly quickly.

Assembling the Gateau

Place your ring mould, lined with the joncode sponge onto a serving plate.
Trim your chocolate sponge layers so that they fit snugly inside the ring mould. (I used the base of a 7inch tin as a guide).
Place the thin cake layer into the mould to form the base of the gateaux. Cut the thicker sponge layer in half, horizontally, to form two thinner layers. Set to one side.
Pour half the chocolate ganache over the base layer sponge and top with one of your cut layers of chocolate cake.
Spread over the raspberry cream and top with the final layer of chocolate cake. It should reach to the top of your ring mould now.
Spread the remaining half of the chocolate ganache over the top, completely covering the cake and top of the joncode sponge.
Decorate as your wish – I dusted the top with edible gold glitter. Refrigerate for an hour before running a hot knife around the top rim of the metal ring mould and removing, leaving the finished gateaux in place.