Monday 31 May 2010

Dark Chocolate Berry Cake

Another Dan Lepard recipe, for a chocolate cake with berry jam filling, with more jam mixed into a chocolate frosting. I'm afraid this one promised more than it delivered. It looked impressive, but the cake was on the dry side, and the jam didn't add much to the flavour of the frosting. Unusually for one of Dan's recipes, I also felt there wasn't enough frosting - usually you can get away with half of what he suggests!

On the plus side, it was an easy cake to make, with the ingredients added successively to chocolate, golden syrup and butter melted in a saucepan, although I found it took a few minutes longer to bake.



If I made it again, I would make double the frosting and use some for the filling too, rather than plain jam. However, I'm unlikely to make it again, as I've made much nicer chocolate cakes from some of Dan's other recipes!
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15 comments:

  1. Jude31 May 2010 at 15:10

    Having seen this in Saturday's Guardian I was absolutely certain you would be making it pronto!

    Is a good job I'm away or I might have had a go too. I think you've probably saved me the effort!

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  2. Choclette31 May 2010 at 15:25

    Oh that's a shame Suelle. I can't see from the recipe why it would be dry, although I have recently been adding water to my batter which makes for a moist cake. I think I'd be tempted to incorporate the jam into the cake batter itself and sandwich the cake with icing as you suggest.

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  3. Suelle31 May 2010 at 16:37

    Choclette - I couldn't see why the cake was dry either, with melted chocolate, golden syrup and yogurt, although the butter content is low for the weight of flour.

    Jude - only too pleased to be a trail-blazer for you!

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  4. Lucie31 May 2010 at 17:24

    That is a shame, it does look lovely though. Always a shame when things don't turn out too well.

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  5. Caroline31 May 2010 at 17:39

    Hmm, that's a pity. I wish I'd seen this post this morning, before I made the cake! Oh well, I'll report back on what I made of it when I get round to icing and eating it.

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  6. Suelle31 May 2010 at 19:14

    I'll be interested to hear what you think of it, C - if you don't find it on the dry side then it's possible I did something wrong!

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  7. Anonymous31 May 2010 at 20:15

    Ah that is not so good - dry chocolate cake :-( And his photo looks like the cake is generously topped with icing.
    Would you recommend mixing jam with the frosting? Is it a tasty combination or overkill?

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  8. Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial31 May 2010 at 20:15

    Thanks Suelle, I'd been thinking of making this one too!

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  9. Suelle1 June 2010 at 07:06

    somesaycocoa - mixing jam with the frosting is definitely not overkill, but I'm not sure if it was worth the effort in terms of adding to the flavour. I could taste the jam when trying the frosting alone, but not when it was on the cake.

    BTW - I used a low sugar, high fruit content 'Cherries and Berries' jam, containing cherries, strawberries, raspberries and redcurrants.

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  10. Joanna1 June 2010 at 18:32

    I liked the fruity chocolate icing idea but my cake came out on the dry and crumbly side too. Thought it was me as I am not that brilliant at cakes as we all know and I had left Brian to take it out of the oven, he said it needed extra time to cook the middle so I assumed that he had overbaked it a bit..

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  11. Suelle1 June 2010 at 19:12

    Thanks for your comments, Joanna. Naturally, I don't think it was your skills at fault.;)

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  12. Unknown4 June 2010 at 03:57

    i tried this recipe and found it to be a little dry even though i baked it for 40 minutes. i also mixed the berry jam (i used raspberry and cranberry jam) with the chocolate icing which tasted really good

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  13. Suelle4 June 2010 at 06:53

    Thanks for your comments, Shahnaz. I think I'll remember the frosting idea, but use it with a moister cake recipe.

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  14. Caroline16 June 2010 at 19:58

    Sorry I had meant to respond sooner but it slipped my mind! Yes, I did find the cake on the dry side, but I made a half quantity and it cooked faster than I expected. I don't think it would have been a lot moister even if I had cooked it correctly though. This was nice enough but as you say, some of Dan's other recipes are better.

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  15. Suelle16 June 2010 at 20:41

    Thanks for getting back, C. I'm pleased to know it wasn't just me!

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