Chocolate millionaire shortbread cake

This is one of those 'I've had a horrific week and I need to eat my body weight in copious amounts of chocolate and sugar to make it better' cakes. The cake itself is my absolute favourite and ticks all the boxes of the perfect chocolate cake: moist, not too sweet and easy. It has an absurd amount of water in the batter but rest assured, this is the secret to a deliciously moist cake as the flour absorbs all the liquid when you give it a chance and that's exactly what stops the batter from being dry. It's perfect for tray-bakes for church bazaars or even as cupcakes. 

As if the cake wasn't good enough on it's own, I've piled it with layers of chocolate, caramel and shortbread, inspired by my favourite millionaire treat. If this cake doesn't have the wow factor then I dunno. 

Chocolate millionaire shortbread cake

Recipe created for October issue of Food and Home Entertaining Magazine

Serves 8-10

Chocolate cake

1/2L water

240g vegetable oil

450g brown sugar

200g dark chocolate, chopped

115g cocoa powder

4 large eggs

325g cake flour

5g baking powder

2g salt

10g bicarbonate of soda

Shortbread

500g butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup castor sugar

200ml maizena or cornstarch

2 cups cake flour

Chocolate topping

450g dark chocolate

1 cup cream

Salted caramel sauce, for drizzling

Chocolate shortbread biscuits, to garnish

Preheat oven to 160C.

Boil water then add oil and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and then pour over the chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth. Whisk eggs lightly then stir in the chocolate mixture. Fold in the combined dry ingredients. Let mix stand covered for 1 hour. Place the batter into 2 x 24cm springform cake tins lined with baking paper and bake at 160C for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

For the shortbread, cream the butter or margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.  Gradually add the combined dry ingredients to form a soft dough.  Roll out the dough and cut into a 24cm disc. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until crisp and golden. 

Assemble the cake by starting with a shortbread layer, spread some salted caramel on the bottom then place the chocolate cake on top followed by the chocolate topping. Repeat this process finishing with chocolate and a drizzling of salted caramel. Decorate with the leftover crushed shortbread.

TIP: Take a shortcut by buying ready-made caramel and chocolate spread instead of making your own!

Father's Day Chocolate Meringue Crunch Cake

I often credit my mother and grandmother for my love of food and baking but seldom do I mention the person who gave me my insatiable sweet tooth (and good genes to tolerate a sweet tooth!) My father is still the only person who can finish a slab of chocolate faster than I can and he has always been my unofficial taster; I judge how good a recipe is by how long the treats sit on the kitchen counter after baking! And as they say, if the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, this chocolate cake should get you there as quickly as my dad made this cake disappear when I baked it.  Jokes aside though, what I love most about this recipe is that you don’t need to make a frosting as the meringue is baked right on top of the cake. It’s light and crispy and not overly sweet or decadent - a superb way of cutting down the fat content of a cake. And it's also gluten-free! One of my absolute favourites! Happy Father’s Day!

Chocolate meringue crunch cake

(serves 8)

150ml butter

1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

3/4 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar

 6 eggs, separated

4 egg whites

360g dark chocolate, melted and cooled, plus 120g roughly chopped

1T vanilla extract

pinch salt

1T cornstarch

 1/4t cream of tartar

1 cup castor sugar

Preheat oven to 180°C. Butter a 22cm spring form cake tin and sprinkle with flour. Cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in melted chocolate and vanilla. Set aside. Whip 6 egg whites with the salt until soft peaks form, stir 1/3 into the chocolate mixture and fold in the rest. Pour batter into tin and bake for 25 minutes. Meanwhile mix hazelnuts, chopped chocolate and corn flour. Place remaining 4 egg whites in a bowl with cream of tartar and whisk until soft peaks. Add the sugar gradually until stiff. Fold in hazelnut mixture. Remove cake from oven, spread meringue on top and return to oven, bake until meringue is lightly browned and crisp about 25 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before slicing and serving. Decorate with chocolate curls, if desired.