Baking Your Cake and Eating It...

When, if not your birthday, can you enjoy the guilt free indulgence of a deliciously gooey, over-rich chocolate cake? Well today is my 40^th birthday so I’m celebrating the launch of our “Erbe’s Kitchen” blog with a scrumptious chocolate and raspberry cake. As tempting as it was to scoff it all by myself for breakfast, I thought that perhaps it would be better to share it with others and spread the calories (oops I mean love!).
You’ll find a common theme throughout my blogs in that I believe all foods are good for you – in moderation; whether for their health properties or simply because they taste great and make us feel happy. There is no such thing as “bad” food – well maybe trans-fats but more on that another day - for today I’ve baked a cake and I’m going to eat it.

Good For You Because…

Raspberries - Rich in vitamin C, Rich in libido boosting Zinc, Rich in Manganese which is important for our metabolism and anti-oxidant health.

Chocolate (min 70% Cocoa)Rich in anti-oxidants and it tastes divine so is definitely in the “making me happy” category and studies are underway to prove whether dark chocolate is good for our cardiovascular health.

So go on – enjoy a guilt-free tasty treat…every once in a while and bring on the serotonin!

Recipe

Preheat your oven to 180C/ 350F. Crack 4 eggs into a heat proof bowl and beat in 160g caster sugar over a simmering bowl of water for 6 minutes, until thickened. Sift 100g plain flour together with 50g cocoa powder and ½ tsp baking powder then gradually fold into the egg mixture. Fold in 150g melted butter then pour the batter into a round spring form cake tin. Bake or 40 minutes then allow to cool before cutting in half horizontally.

Take 100g frozen raspberries, mix with 1tbsp icing sugar over a low heat to thaw and turn syrupy. Spread over one half of the cake.

Melt 50g plain chocolate stir in 1 tbs cocoa powder and mix with 250g marscapone spread 

evenly over the raspberries then put the other half of the cake on top.

Put 100g chopped plain chocolate in a bowl with 1tbsp icing sugar. Bring 150ml cream to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Allow to cool for 2 minutes then stir until smooth. Rest for 10 minutes then pour the chocolate topping over the cake, allowing for the chocolate to run over the edges. Chill until ready to serve.