Chocolate decadence - Valentine's Day

I’ve never really been the hearts and flowers type, and I'm not all that into Valentine's Day [due mainly to that ghastly boyfriend who dumped me on 13 February many years ago, but then expected to get back together on the 15th! Um, NO!] 

However, I do love the occasional excuse to have a decadent dessert - and what better excuse than Valentine’s Day. 

This is really easy to make and the cake part of the recipe can be made a few days - or even weeks - earlier and kept in the fridge or freezer. I actually think it tastes even better 2-3 days after it’s been made. The best bit about the cake is it’s versatility - it’s perfect for morning tea, a quick after-school treat, or as a dessert for a dinner party. Oh, and it’s also gluten free.

And if it looks familiar, it's virtually the same recipe as the one for my gluten free chocolate cherry cake [nothing like recycling!], but tarted up for Valentines Day. If you're into that sort of thing.

What you need:
250g dark chocolate,broken into pieces (I prefer dark chocolate that has 70% cocoa solids)
250g almond meal
200g caster sugar
150g butter, softened
6 eggs (ideally 59g - if they are smaller use 7 eggs)
1 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbsp boiling water
Cream to serve
Raspberries (fresh or frozen) to serve
Icing sugar* (to serve)

What you do:

1. Turn the oven on to 180c.
2. Line the baking tray with baking paper
3. Place the chocolate pieces in the food processor and whizz until they resemble big crumbs of chocolate (if you don’t have a food processor, place the chocolate in a freezer or zip lock bag and seal, place the bag between 2 tea-towels and bash with a rolling pin or a meat mallet until its crushed). Set aside.
4. Place the sugar, butter, eggs, cocoa and baking powder into the mixing bowl and mix with the electric beaters or a wooden spoon until smooth. Mix in the coffee mixture.
5. Add the chocolate and almond meal and mix well - it might be easier to mix this with the wooden spoon.
6. Pour the cake mix into the baking tray, smooth it over with a knife.
7. Bake on the middle tray of the oven for 30-45 minutes (check it at 30 minutes - you want the centre to be soft to touch but not too gooey).

Leave to cool in the baking tray for 15 minutes then move it to cook on the wire rack.

To assemble dessert
Once the cake is cool, remove it from the wire rack and place it on a flat surface. Cut out heart shaped pieces with the cookie cutter and carefully transfer 1 heart to each plate. You should get 6 hearts out of a cake this size. 

This cake is best served at room temperature or slightly warmed. Serve with raspberries and cream. Dust with icing sugar.

WARNING! This cake is very rich and is easily enough to share. It IS Valentine’s Day after all!
* if you are serving this to someone who requires gluten free, make sure you get pure icing sugar, NOT icing mixture

What to do with leftover cake
All those leftover bits of cake (around the heart cut-outs) are great for dessert or snacks. Serve warmed with ice-cream or cream or thick yogurt. Or just eat them on their own! The cake should keep for 3 months in an airtight container in the freezer or a week in the fridge.

Date and pecan loaf

For those who haven't seen my tweets, this week I'm on special at Woollies. OK, so not ME per se, but this recipe is included in the recipe booklet that is included with the special offer by Lurpak - a special pack with a Lurpak branded loaf tin, 2 x 250g packs of delicious Lurpak unsalted butter and the booklet! 

Lurpak special baking tin offer - at Woolworths. GO NOW!

Many of you know that I was invited to be a Friend of Lurpak, and part of this was to provide a recipe. The other part was to judge their baking competition - thanks to everyone who entered - you can see some of the amazing creations here and the winners here. 

When Lurpak asked me to provide a recipe that could be baked in a loaf tin, I immediately thought of this. I made quite a few varieties of this during #bakedrelief, and it was always a winner! 

However the main reason I love this recipe is that gorgeous and hard-to-pass-up combination of dates and pecans. Also because it’s easy to make and takes less than 10 minutes to mix all the ingredients together before throwing it in the oven. It’s perfect for the office morning tea, the 3pm snack, or just to have with a cuppa!

Afternoon tea. 

Ingredients

200g dates, chopped

100g brown sugar

60g lightly salted Lurpak butter

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup boiling water

260g self raising flour, sifted

1 tsp bicarbonate soda

1 tsp cinnamon

75g pecans, chopped

Method

• Assemble all your ingredients
• Preheat oven to 180c
• Fill the kettle with water and turn it on to boil
• Grease Lurpak baking tin with Lurpak butter and line with greaseproof paper
• Place the dates, brown sugar, Lurpak butter and vanilla in a medium sized mixing bowl
• Pour in the boiling water and stir until the Lurpak butter has completely melted
• Add in the flour, bicarbonate soda and cinnamon and mix together using a wooden spoon - be careful not to over-mix
• Stir the pecans into the mix
• Scrape the mixture into the Lurpak baking tin

Pre-cooked. I challenge you to resist eating that raw batter. mmmmm 

• Bake for 50-55 minutes. 
• Leave to cool in the baking tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a cake rack and remove the baking paper. 

So, so good. 

• Serve in slices, spread with Lurpak butter. Delicious with a cup of tea! 

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. This also freezes really well for up to 3 months - I ALWAYS have one in the freezer for when friends unexpectedly drop in! 

Note: The pecans could easily be swapped for walnuts or left out if you don’t like them

DISCLAIMER: Thanks to Lurpak for providing me with the butter and the baking tin to make this recipe. And of course, for inviting me to be a Friend of Lurpak.