When nothing but chocolate will do

Haven't been blogging much as I haven't felt any inspiration lately and it didn't help when I was down with the flu bug. Just when I was recovering from my what I call bland taste buds, that's when I bit into a bit of heaven, chocolate heaven to be more precise. I had a taste of the most moist, luscious and delicious chocolate cake ever at a little cafe called Old School Delights at 215M Upper Thomson Road. This cafe is less than a month old with a sweet old nostalgic tuck shop theme and the sticky chocolate cake I had was homemade by the aunt of the cafe owner. In fact, it was the first day she launched this new cake and it perked me up considerably. I enjoyed it so much that I forgot my usual blogging habit of taking a picture.

Most commercial chocolate cakes I've tasted these days are just not right, with some just having too much chocolate cream or mousse. Two or three digs at it and you know you've had enough. The right chocolate cake has to be rich and light at the same time, a contradictory balance. A rich topping,though not too much of it while the cake itself has to have a rich chocolate taste and light texture.

When I was feeling better, I decided to try a hand at making a chocolate cake. Chose a receipe from one of my many cookery books and what's unusual about it is that it can be made in a food processor. One of the more unusual ingredient used was sour cream which counterbalances the sweetness of the cake. The end result was a rich, immensely chocolatey cake which my husband and kids loved. It was different from the sticky chocolate cake in terms of the frosting but the cake taste and texture was quite similar. If anyone is feeling down or in the process of recovering from a bad bout of flu, a chocolate cake might do the trick. It did for me but then again, sweet delectables always cheer me up and I love chocolate :)

Chocolatey Chocolate Cake

For the cake

200g plain flour

175g soft unsalted butter

170g caster sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons real vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

150ml sour cream

40g best-quality cocoa

Put everything above into a food processor and process till you get a smooth thick batter.

Bake in an oven (180 degree C for around half an hour )

For the icing

75g unsalted butter

175g best quality dark chocolate broken into small pieces

240g icing sugar

2 tablespoon golden syrup

125ml of sour cream

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Remove the lumps in the icing sugar through sieving or blitzing in a food processor.

Add this and the other ingredients into the melted butter and chocolate and whisk.

Spread the icing over the cake using a knife or spatula.