More baking

Well, to round out the trio of baking posts, here is the chocolate cake I recently made! Again it is from How to Eat: Pleasures and Principles of Good Food a book I have been totally engrossed in recently! I had bought it a while back and, because it has no pictures, had not really been taken with it. How wrong was I? I have finally started reading through it and I really am enjoying it for the involved preamble that every recipe is prefaced by- it really helps to set a mood for each dish and has had me trying all sorts of things I usually wouldn't. I do think that recipe books with no photos call on a different instinct when you are looking at them. There is that curiosity about how it might look- I love having the confidence that comes with experience and looking at ingredients and a method and knowing that it is worth a go. This was my feeling when I read the recipe for this cake, it was somewhat different to the usual method and yet somehow I knew it would be lovely, so was compelled to try!
There is nothing more satisfying to me than picking up a recipe book and hitting on a recipe that makes me feel like I have to get straight up and make it. It really is a great process of discovery!

Birthday Cake (Chocolate)

1 3/4 c plain flour
1/3 c cocoa
2 tsp B.P
pinch salt
1 c caster sugar
110g butter
2/3 c evaporated milk
100g dark chocolate (broken into small pieces)
2 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 180 C. Put the kettle on. Grease and line a 20 cm springform pan. Sift the flour, cocoa, BP and salt together in a large bowl. Put the sugar, butter, milk and 1/2c just boiled water along with the chocolate into a saucepan and heat until smooth and melted. Using a wooden spoon, stir chocolate mix into dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Add in eggs and beat to incorporate. Pour into cake pan, bake 35-45 mins. When it's ready the top will feel firm, but a skewer may not come out clean- it is a fudgy textured cake.Nigella says not to worry about cracking on the surface of the cake (like mine!!) as the ganache will cover it- which of course it does beautifully! When the cake is cool you can slather it with it!
Chocolate Ganache

200g dark chocolate
1 c heavy cream

Chop chocolate into pieces and put in bowl. Heat cream to just about boiling point and pour it over the chocolate. Leave for 5 mins then beat with an electric beater until thick and glossy. Spread all over cake. Leave for a couple of hours or until set- you can make this cake a day ahead.