Learn with recipes

In order to prevent overdosing on chocolate birthday cake,  I suggested to Mr Farmer that we had chocolate muffins for this birthday rather than a 7" or 8" cake!  He was quite happy to go with this, especially when I found this recipe by Paul Hollywood on the UKTV Good Food Channel.

It is a really interesting recipe, it uses strong bread flour and after you make the mixture you chill it in the fridge for 2 hours.  Then you put a teaspoonful in the bottom of the muffin case add a square of dark chocolate and then more muffin mixture on top. 
The muffins are very moist and and airy. When served warm, the chocolate in the middle is gooey and melting.  If cold then it doesnt go completely hard again, just not so gooey. 


I can really recommend this recipe, it is high fat, high sugar and absolutely delicious, so most of the rest of the muffins are destined for Mr Farmers office to remove them from temptation!

3/4 cup unsweetened coca powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1 pkg (16 oz) angel food cake mix
1 1/4 cup water
1 tbs instant coffee powder (optional)
1 1/2 cup skim milk
1 pkg (1 1/3 oz) whipped topping mix (can substitute fat free cool whip)
1 pkg (1.4 oz) sugar-free instant chocolate pudding mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. LIne a 10x15 jelly-roll pan with waxed paper. Whisk together cocoa, sugar, and boiling water. Cool to lukewarm.

2. Prepare cake mix per package directions, using 1 1/4 cup water and adding cocoa mixture. Soread batter evenly in the pan. Bake 20 minutes or until top looks dry. Invert onto a large wire rack. Remove the pan and waxed paper. Cool.

3. In a medium bolw, dissolve coffie in milk. Add topping and pudding mixes. Beat on low speed until moistened. Beat at high speed until soft peaks form. Chill 5 minutes.

4. Cut cake crosswise into thirds. Cover each layer with topping. Stack; chill 2 hours.

Serves 10.

per slice: 261 cal, 1.5 g fat (5% of cal), 427 mg sodium

From Prevention Magazine insert found in Sunday paper.

keywords: dessert, cake, chocolate

A rich, devil's food style chocolate layer cake for the holidays.

Angel Food, Devil's Style

Sharing food in winter is one of life’s quiet joys. As poet Edith Sitwell noted, “Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”

I contemplate her words and feel an ache that is dangerously flirting with longing. As we invest more and more of our (fleeting, precious!) time into our virtual lives, connecting not by touch or even by voice, but via endless shallow streams of social media- texting, downloading, uploading, scrolling through visual tidbits of other people’s lives (often strangers), privy to their breakfast, their political opinions, and goofy pictures of Fido and Kitty- I yearn to throw a party. To embrace the old fashioned ritual of baking from scratch, lighting candles, and inviting some human beings over for an evening of conversation and real time companionship.

Laughter and chocolate cake are good medicine, feeding not only our sweet tooth, but our sun deprived spirit as well. The spirit of connectivity, friendship and inclusion.

Yet for those of us living gluten-free (and dairy-free), the deep mid-winter season- with its twinkling celebrations centered around sharing food- too often feels the opposite of convivial. It feels gated. Off limits.

Look. Don't touch. Or taste. Smile graciously.

When you need not be hyper-vigilant about each and every forkful, the food centric holidays are, as the saying goes, a piece of cake. But to those of us with celiac disease and dairy allergies, a table heaped with food (glorious food) is a big steaming reminder of how different we are, a symbol of separation. Of not belonging.

This is when a gluten-free dairy-free chocolate layer cake is more than just dessert. It is a marvelous, beautiful thing. Bordering on luxurious.

Because to indulge (and share food) without worry is a true gift.

So pick a date. Text family and friends an invite. Or pick up the phone and call. Fire up your oven. Gather plates and candles.

Conviviality, connection, and cake await.


Read more + get the recipe >>

Im not giving it away, heaven forbid!!!  No this is a generous offer on the Jam and Clotted Cream blog so why not hop on over there and see if you can win a gorgeous Easter Egg from Hotel Chocolat.  Alternatively you could just visit their website and drool!