Clare Johnston shares one of her best bakes to date in the shape of this warming, melty wonder that can be made with ordinary flour too.
This cake taught me a valuable lesson in baking life: on those evenings you decide to do a bit of a throw-in to see what comes out of it, make a note of your measures.
On my first attempt I failed to do that, ended up with one of my best-ever bakes and no concrete idea of how I’d achieved it.
So it was back to the drawing board the next night as I tried again, this time making notes as I went along. That second effort wasn’t a patch on the first – too few chocolate chips, too much Nutella and probably baking soda.
It took me a third go to nail it in writing. And so here it is, my gloriously gluten-free chocolate chunk cake.
It’s gluten-free because we’re a coeliac household, but I generally find you can substitute ordinary plain flour for gluten-free and vice versa these days without changing your quantities.
Of the gluten-free flour options out there, I prefer to use the multipurpose white mix products for baking, but the plain flours stocked in supermarkets work well, too.
This recipe is practically indestructible – and I have tested that to its limits. My son requests I make chocolate chunk cake at least twice a week, and on my most recent endeavour I actually forgot to add the butter in.
I only realised when it was half baked and I opened the microwave to find the melted oily mixture staring back accusingly at me. By then it was too late, but what do you know? It still tasted great. True, it dried out in a heartbeat, but eaten warm it was delicious – so there’s a low-fat option if you’re counting calories.
For the most moreish result, the secret is to use chocolate chunks rather chips – their bigger size giving you a mouthful of melt with each bite of cake.
The result is a fluffy, warming delight that once eaten is never too far from your mind.
Chocolate Chunk Cake
Ingredients for the cake:
- 300g all-purpose flour
- 130g golden caster sugar
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 120g slightly salted butter (softened)
- 3 eggs
- 1 heaped tsp of hazelnut chocolate spread
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 125g dark chocolate chips/chunks
Ingredients for the icing:
- 1 tbsp of hazelnut chocolate spread
- 25g of dark chocolate, melted
- 75g icing sugar
- Half a tub (90g) cream cheese
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan) and grease two 8-inch round cake tins.
- Add the dry ingredients to your mixing bowl followed by the butter, eggs, and vanilla essence. Mix until thoroughly combined before adding in the chocolate chunks broken into individual pieces. Blast for 10 seconds in the mixer, then split the cake mix between the cake tins and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
- Beat your icing ingredients together quickly in a bowl until glossy and spread over the partially-cooled cake, which is best eaten warm and melty.
