Mocha Cake

I'm poorly today (boooo!) so to keep myself able to power through my work I've been mainlining coffee. I also needed comforting so wanted cake but also not to leave the house. That meant I spent an hour this evening whipping up this yummy chocolate & coffee cake. It's usually raises to impressive heights but I was not feeling like making such an effort so just whacked all the ingredients in a food processor rather than following my method below. It still looks and tastes good, so I say that's a win for a sexy snot-monster. The icing is really creamy and delicious.

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 150g caster sugar
• 150g butter or margarine
• 3 eggs
• 100g plain flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp hot water
• 1 tbsp instant coffee

For the icing

• 225g icing sugar
• 100g butter or margarine
• 2 tbsp instant coffee
• Splash of hot water

Method

1. Preheat the oven at 160C. Line and grease a cake tin.
2. Add the sugar and the butter to a bowl and cream together.
3. Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the butter/sugar mixture.
4. Fold in the flour and baking powder.
5. Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water and add to the mixture still folding.
6. Whisk the egg whites and fold it in gently until combined.
7. Add to the sandwich tin and cook for 30 minutes.
8. While the sponge is cooking, make the icing by creaming the butter and the icing sugar until light and fluffy. Dissolve the coffee in a splash of hot water and add it to the butter and icing sugar (not too much or it will be runny). Whisk and leave in the fridge until the cake is done.
9. Once the cake is out of the oven and fully cooled, either cut in half and spread icing in the middle or frost the outside. Add nuts if desired.  

Cinema Kitchen: Django Unchained

Here at TGOC Towers we love a good story. Whether it’s a hungover Sunday with a vintage classic or the latest new release. We geek out over well framed shots, costume design and of course how food plays into the narrative. This has inspired our new feature ‘Cinema Kitchen’ where we’ll be mixing up cocktails and baking treats inspired by our favourite films.

Last weekend I went to see Django Unchained and one of the pivotal moments where the plan to rescue Broomhilda hangs in the balance takes place around Monsieur Candie’s dining table. They are to have White Cake for dessert.

White Cake is not something I’ve ever heard of so I had to do some research. It turns out White Cake is basically just a sponge cake but omits the egg yolks to retain the purest possible colour. This makes it ideal for celebration cakes e.g. wedding cake. It struck me that Monsieur Candie was so incredibly racist that he couldn’t even stand his pudding to have colour. Another great moment was the blood spattered cotton as Django shoots a man off his horse. In tribute to one of my favourite film makers I thought I’d recreate this cake and camera shot with true Tarantino gore-fest décor.

The method is most important here to get a really fluffy texture, creaming the butter and sugar and whisking the egg whites. The fun part is the decorating but I recommend putting some newspaper down to protect surfaces.  

Django Unchained Inspired Monsieur Candie Blood Spattered White Cake

Ingredients:

For the sponge

250ml milk
6 egg whites
1tsp vanilla extract
350g sifted flour
350g sugar
4tsp baking powder

150g butter

For the frosting

400g cream cheese

Icing sugar to taste

For the coulis

200g strawberries, raspberries or any other red fruit

30g sugar
Lemon juice

Red food colouring (if necessary)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Grease two 9x9 pans.
3. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
4. Slowly alternate adding flour and baking powder with milk and vanilla extract to the butter mixture. Beat well after each addition.
5. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Gently fold egg whites into batter the pour into prepared pans.
6. Bake for 30-40mins. Leave to cool.
7. Mix cream cheese with icing sugar and frost middle, top and sides of cake.
8. Simmer lemon juice , sugar and red fruit, blend and sieve out seeds before chilling.
9. Dip a pastry or paint brush into the fruit sauce and flick over your frosted cake.
10. Serve with extra coulis for an extra bloody treat!