Chocolate Recipe

Chocolate recipes for chocoholics is a statement that needs very little explanation! But its not just chocoholics that are attracted to all manner of chocolate based goodies as its an almost universally loved and enjoyed substance that can be eaten any time, any place, anywhere... oh hand on someone already came up with that one!

So this hub is going to be all about that sweet, sticky, easily melted and worked with, delicious, addictive and gorgeous edible stuff known as chocolate!

Well, now that I've managed to get that not completely unobvious statement out of the way, I'll go on to explaining why I created this particular hub and what one should expect to get from it. 

A chocolate recipe is a method of creating an edible food product that is made from of contains chocolate aseither its main ingredient or as one of its major constituents.

What I have created here is not just a page with a few recipes that use chocolate as their base, but an insight into perhaps why we tend to use this cocoa derived confection more than most other forms especially for creating desserts, cakes, biscuits, cookies and of course the coveted fine chocolate confectionery that comes in fancy boxes and costs an arm and a leg.

Of course the odd chocolate recipe of two are rquired reading, especially as they're modifications of my own that I use on a regular basis! 

The image below is a simple but powerfully tempting view of what the stuff looks like when you're swirling it around in a bowl in preparation for making something unelievably naughty!

Well, as promised here is the first simple recipe for making one of my favourite simple cakes that I have modified from several recipes given to me by various people that I tailored to suit my own taste and ability in the kitchen.

What You Need:

• 125g (4oz) demerera sugar
• 125g (4oz) butter
• 2 medium eggs
• 250g (8oz) wholemeal flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3 ripe bananas
• 125g (4oz) raisins
• 125g (4oz) walnuts
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Putting it All Together:

Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F), gas mark 4.  Put sugar, butter and eggs in a large bowl and mix together (or use a food processor, its easier!). Add the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Then add the chopped up bananas, walnuts and raisins. Mix everything thoroughly. Pour the mix into a well greased 23cm (9in) round cake tin. Bake for about 40 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool.  

For the topping, melt a 125g bar of cooking chocolate in a plate over a pan of hot water. Spread thickly over the top of the cake and allow to cool to a hard, crisp shell.

You can decorate it with stuff if you want, but I'm usually too lazy and want to get eating, so I'll leave any fancy work to you own imagination, while I'm leaving the fancy digesting to my stomach! 

If you like chocolate cake but want to cut down on the amount of processed sugar you're eating, here is a great recipe that uses no added sugar, yet still produces a sweet tasting and very healthy chocolate cake! Not possible? Oh yes it is...

What you'll Need:

250g (8oz) dates roughly chopped

125g (4oz) butter

2 medium eggs

250g (8oz) wholemeal flour

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch salt

125g (4oz) bar plain chocolate

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Putting it All Together:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas Mark 4.

To start with, add the (de-stoned) dates to a pan with enough water to cover them and boil with the lip on for about 10 minutes. Pour off the water from the dates and set aside for liquid.

Melt the butter and pour it over the sugar. Beat the eggs and add to the sugar mixture. Mix in the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder to the mixture. Beat the dates into a pulp then add to the cake mixture.

Pour the chocolate date cake mixture into a well greased 25cm (10in) square cake tin. Chop the walnuts and sprinkle over the top of the mixture. Chop up the chocolate bar and put on top of walnuts. Sprinkle a little freshly grated nutmeg over the top and bake for 35-40 mins.

Take out of the oven and stand on a wire rack to cool.

This is a delicious cake to have with afternoon tea or any time if you're a ravenous chocoholic glutton like me!