Chili Chocolate Cake

To get started as a food writer I offered to write the column for my local paper. It's a super opportunity and gets my recipes out of my kitchen and into the local community. What's more, is that when I took the proposal for this book to the publisher in June I was already , be it only for 4 weeks at the time, a food writer. I love it. Last week I was asked to come up with a cake for adults only .. and as I am writing the chocolate chapter I thought 'd share it with you. On Tuesday I shall be heading to meet Chantal Coady at Rococo Chocolates on Motcomb street to delight in the best chocolate ever. .. and I have been asked to attend a book launch .. I'm so excited ... I've never been to one before !

In the mean time, with the October weather closing in I can highly recommend this ... this one is certainly not for the children - this cake is for grown ups. You get your sweet fix, followed by a chill hit and chocolate burst to finish – just how I like it. Intense. It is a rich cake so it’s worth the calories to enjoy just one. Two words of warning - don’t get carried away with the chili. Use the exact amount. Too hot is not nice. Secondly don’t get mixed up and use picked beetroots!

Makes 2 cakes

Preparation time 10 minutes for the cakes & 15 minutes for decoration

Cooking time 25 minutes

Suitable for freezing YES before decorating

Make an extra one - to freeze

Cake

150ml of rape seed oil

3 eggs

300g grated drained cooked beetroot

225g self-raising flour

75g cocoa powder

1 level tsp chili powder

280g caster sugar

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

Icing

150g icing sugar

60g egg white

50g cocoa powder

Chili’s

Two small packets of florist icing paste

One red, one green

Filling

150g dark chocolate ( I use this from Rococo Chocolate )

50ml of double cream

1 Preheat the oven to 170C/350F/Gas mark 4

2 Sift all the dry ingredients for the cake into a bowl

3 In a separate bowl place the 3 eggs and whisk. Add to this oil and beetroot and oil.

4 Add the dry mixture in to the wet ingredient. Mix well

5 Divide the mixture between 2 eight-inch tins and bake in the oven for 25 minutes until they have risen and spring back in to shape if touched.

6 Leave to cool on a wire rack.

7 For the filling melt the chocolate in a bain marie and add the cream. Mix well until the chocolate thickens. If it is little too runny pop it in the fridge to cool down. Cut the cake in half and spread in the middle before sandwiching back together.

8 Mix the egg, cocoa powder and icing sugar together. Adjust the consistency to get a good thick icing sugar and spread generously on top.

9 To make the sugar chilies. Break off small pieces of the red sugar paste roll in your hands to a chewing gum consistency and roll into a chili shape. You have to work quickly as it dries out. Keep what you are not using covered. Make a stalk using the green paste. Using the end of a chopstick push a small dent in the top and using a really tiny drop of water as glue stick the two together. Voila – top your cakes with chilies!