Chocolate Fudge Cake

This recipe is a recent addition to the Good Food website. Unusually, it stipulates a plain chocolate with low cocoa solids content, so I had to add chocolate to my shopping list and make a special effort to get some. I choose a Tesco own brand 60% from Madagascar.

I followed the simple cake recipe exactly, with no problems in the mixing stages, and baked in a 9" square tin. It was lucky that I was keeping a close eye on things in the kitchen as the cake was cooked in 40 minutes - at least 10 minutes quicker than stipulated in the recipe.

I also followed the icing recipe exactly, but here I ran into problems. I used a 70% cocoa solids chocolate at this stage, but I don't know if this was the cause of the problem. The 'fudge' went into that strange sludgy ball that I'm sure you've all seen - a stage on the way to seizing, I think - where it doesn't seem to wet the sides of the bowl. As it cooled it began to exude excess oil.  I managed to remedy the situation by beating in a tablespoon or so of cold semi-skimmed milk, but the fudge didn't get really set as if got colder. It held it's shape for spreading and swirling but didn't set firm (although it's a very hot day, so it might get a bit firmer overnight).

This cake neatly bridges the gap between cake and brownies - it is quite dense, rich and moist, but not as chewy or gooey as the best brownies. It's not as sweet as many brownies and the texture is a little crumbly. One good point was that it had a good level top after baking, with no cracks - perfect for holding a frosting. If the icing had set firmly it would have been a very good cake. The cake recipe will certainly be repeated, but I'm not sure about the fudge frosting.