MEGA CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE

ingredients

• 200g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
• 175g butter, plus extra for greasing
• 120g soft brown sugar
• 100g blanched almonds
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• a pinch of salt
• 4 large eggs, preferably free-range or organic
• 150g self-raising flour
• 100g vanilla ice cream

method

To make your cake
• Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F/gas 2
• Break up the chocolate, put it into a food processor with the butter, sugar, almonds, 1 tablespoon of the cocoa powder and the salt, and whiz until smooth
• Crack your eggs, one at a time, into the food processor and add the flour
• Whiz again until smooth

To bake your cake
• Get a deep baking dish roughly 25 x 25cm in size
• Butter the dish really well and sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of cocoa powder over it
• Shake it around a bit so it lightly coats the whole surface of the dish
• Pour the cake mixture into the dish, using a spatula to scrape it all out of the processor
• Break the fudge into pieces and sprinkle these over the top of the cake mix, pushing any larger pieces down into the mixture
• Pop the baking dish into the preheated oven and cook for 18 to 20 minutes
• Take the cake out of the oven and stick a fork into the middle of it
• If there’s a little bit of cake mixture on the fork when you pull it out, that’s okay – you want the cake to still be a little moist inside so that it’s nice and squidgy
• However, if it seems a bit wobbly, pop it back into the oven for another 3 to 5 minutes to firm up a bit

To serve your cake
• Let your cake cool slightly and serve it warm and gooey
• Serve your cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a bit of double cream