Valentine’s chocolate truffle cake
- Recipe by Shane Smith -
A WORD FROM THE CHEF
Want to make something sweet to impress your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day? You can’t go wrong with this recipe. The way to a man (or woman’s) heart...
INGREDIENTS
(Serves 8)
225g plain flour
350g caster sugar
85g cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons bread soda
Two medium eggs
250ml milk
125ml vegetable oil
One teaspoon vanilla extract
250ml boiling water
For the chocolate cake topping
100g dark chocolate
70ml single cream
Selection of berries
For the chocolate truffles:
200g dark chocolate
100ml single cream
10g butter
50g cocoa powder
METHOD
To make the truffles, simply place the cream, butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Stir until everything is melted and combined. Place in a container in the fridge overnight to firm up.
For the cake, line the base of a 7” round loose bottom cake tin with parchment paper.
Butter and flour the base and sides of the tin.
In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients except the boiling water and mix.
Once combined, carefully add the boiling water and mix until everything is dissolved.
Pour this batter into the tin and bake at 165C for 60-70 minutes
Once baked, allow to cool in the tin before removing.
To finish the truffles, remove from the fridge 10 minutes before rolling. Using a teaspoon scoop out some mix and roll into a ball and dust with cocoa powder. Keep chilled until needed. This is a messy job so feel free to use disposable gloves or you can cut your truffles into squares to save time.
For the chocolate cake topping, simply combine the cream and chocolate in a bowl over a pot of gently simmering water.
Once melted, pour over the top of the chocolate cake and garnish with berries and the truffles.
ABOUT THE CHEF
Shane Smith from Lavey can be seen on Today with Maura and Daithí on RTE One.
You can email him at:
shane@chefshanesmith.ie
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