It is almost Pasqua, Easter so, all things chocolate are on my mind. Cake especially.
Also, I’ve been remembering the year when Massi won an enormous Easter egg in the village of Manarola where he worked. In Italy, Easter eggs are typically large, hollow (ie mega delicate), and are wrapped so ostentatiously as to triple their size. In the case of Massi’s raffle win, the single egg was the size of a small adult.
The plan had been for him to transport it home on his motorbike, the egg straddled between his legs, but in that position, the girth of the egg meant that he was unable to grip the handlebars – I’d need to come up with the car to collect it.
Like all the small villages of the Cinque Terre, Manarola is a pedestrian-only village so, to enter with the car, I needed to get a permit. That sorted, I collected the Easter egg and turned for home. I was pulled over however, by the carabinieri police. I dreaded the stop, my foreign driver’s licence always being a catalyst for questions, and while I scrambled for my documenti, the two, bulky police offices circled the car.
When they spoke however, they didn’t ask for my licence, the car’s insurance or any ID. Instead, they proposed that the egg would perhaps be better in the back seat rather than the front seat of the car. Three seat belts they reasoned, would be better than one. I stood back and left the muscular, police officers get to work re-positioning the egg. As I drove away, I roared with laughter think about the multi-belted egg in a country where seatbelt regulations are overtly ignored. Ha!
Skipping from chocolate eggs to chocolate cake – the one one I baked today was a superb Chocolate Marsala Cake with Caffe’ Latte Crema. It was taken from the Australian Delicious magazine, Italian issue (2011, May, p. 70), and modified.
Thanks to the marsala soaked raisins, it’s a gorgeously moist cake, but not an overly rich one. The richness is added by serving it with both a warm, chocolate sauce, and a caffe latte’ cream (woah – what a combo!).
Despite the long list of ingredients, the cake is a cynch to make. The original recipe kicks off by simmering the raisins in Marsala and allowing them to cool while prepping the rest of the cake. I prefer the raisins on the boozy side so, if I have time, I will start that step the night before and leave the raisins to become fully plump and drunk overnight. From the original recipe, I have also swapped golden syrup for honey, and I’ve altered the quantities of the two sauces (making more of the thick chocolate and less of the runny latte sauce) – suit yourself – any combo would be brilliant.
Chocolate Marsala Cake with Caffe’ Latte Crema
* modified from Delicious Magazine, Italian Issue (2011, May, p. 70),
- 150g raisins
- 80ml sweet Marsala
- 255g butter ( 225g, plus 30g)
- 400g dark chocolate ( 200g, plus 200g)
- 250g caster sugar ( 200g, plus 50g)
- 100g plain flour, sifted
- 6 eggs, separated
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 155g ground almonds
- 3 tablespoons honey (2 tbsp, plus 1 tbsp)
Caffe’ Latte Crema (makes 1 ½ cups)
- 125ml milk
- 225ml cream (separated into 125ml, plus 100ml)
- 30g caster sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar, sifted
- 50ml espresso, cooled
Preferably the day before making the cake, combine the raisins and Marsala in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and simmer on low for around 5 minutes. Cool and place in the fridge overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180º C. Butter and line a 23cm round cake pan.
Melt 200g of the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Allow to cool.
In a large bowl, beat 225g of butter and 200g of caster sugar until thick and pale. Stir in the flour, egg yolks, vanilla, ground almonds, 2 tbsp honey, and the melted chocolate. Fold in the raisins and Marsala mixture.
Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 50g of caster sugar and whisk until stiff and glossy. Fold egg whites into cake mixture, then pour into pan. Bake for 1 hour until cooked, and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. The top of the cake will be a little crusted and cracked. Cool the cake completely in the pan.
To make the crema, combine the milk, 125ml cream, caster sugar and vanilla in a small saucepan. Place over a medium flame and heat until just below boiling point. Whisk in the egg yolks, then cook, stirring for 5-7 minutes over a low heat until thick. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool.
Whip the remaining 100ml cream until soft peaks form, then fold into the cooled cream mixture. Fold in the icing sugar and the coffee. Chill.
Melt the remaining 200g chocolate and 30g of butter in a pan over low heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of honey.
Dollop the hot chocolate sauce over slices of the cooked cake. Then, pour over the caffe’ latte crema.
