Heston's Popping Candy Chocolate Cake

A divine and luxurious concoction with the added surprise of a popping candy base - this is not just for children! Notice my added touch of some kitsch gold dust!

This is a recipe that I had been sitting on for about nine or ten years and had whipped out of a Sunday supplement and filed away to make as a special birthday cake for one of my children's birthdays. The main sticking point had been the inability to get hold of a large quantity of popping candy a few years ago, (in this instance 100 g worth), at a reasonable price. Specialist suppliers were selling it for about £15 a pack but I wasn't prepared to shell out that much at the time! Luckily, Tesco now sell it in their baking aisle for about £1.20 for 60 g so a couple of jars isn't going to break the bank.

Strictly speaking this recipe is not in any of the Heston Blumenthal books that I own so doesn't count towards my challenge but it is sooooo good it would be criminal of me not to draw your attention to it.  As I think it's rather wonderful, I'm planning on making some smaller individual cakes as part of a trio of retro-chocolate desserts for some entertaining I will be doing later on in the year; (for those interested, the other two puddings will be a Walnut Whip Whoopie pie and a homemade Waggon Wheel - I'll endeavour to share those recipes too).

A few points worth noting is that Heston recommends a 12 cm in diameter ring mould which is 5 cm deep, I found with the quantities stated below that this was going to be too small so I upgraded to a larger size vessel, however, I had bought the 12 cm ring mould specifically to make this cake so had to make do with a 15 cm loose bottomed cake tin, taking out the bottom as you obviously can't turn this cake upside down. See below:

The popping candy and hazelnut base chilling in the fridge.

Popping Candy Chocolate Cake by Heston Blumenthal

For the popping candy base
85 g hazelnuts
40g milk chocolate
2 tsp mixed spice
100 g popping candy

For the chocolate mousse
350 g plain chocolate e.g. Cadbury's Bourneville
400ml double cream
pinch of salt

For the chocolate glaze
20g plain chocolate same as above
120 ml water 8 whole coffee beans
couple pinches of salt
 30 g cocoa powder
 70 golden caster sugar

1. To make the base preheat the oven to 180 degrees and roast the hazelnuts for about 10 minutes until lightly coloured. Blend to a paste in a food processor, then set aside.
2. Melt the milk chocolate and stir in the mixed spice and popping candy. Fold in the hazelnut puree. Place the ring mould on a serving plate and gently press in the base mixture. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until hard.

   

   Making up the base mixture.

3. To make the mousse, chop the chocolate in to small pieces and place in a bowl. Bring 150 ml of the cream to the boil in a small saucepan. Pour it over the chopped chocolate and stir very gently until all the chocolate has melted, watch it careful to ensure it doesn't take on a granular texture. Add the salt. Cool to room temperature.
4. Whip the remaining 250 ml of cream to soft peaks, don't overwhip. Fold in to the chocolate mixture and then pour over the base in the ring mould and leave e to set for at least 2 hours.

   

   Folding in the cream to the chocolate mixture

5. To make the glaze, chop up the chocolate and set aside. Place the water, coffee beans and salt in a pan, whisk in the cocoa powder then set over a medium heat ans simmer for about 3 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, put the sugar in a small pan and melt over a medium heat, watch it carefully as it will caramelise quite quickly. When completely melted pour over the coffee and cocoa mix - it will splutter and spit at you!. Beat in the chopped chocolate and when melted pass through a sieve.
7. When cool but still liquid, pour over the mousse and return to the fridge to set
8. To serve the cake it's important to run a hot knife around the inside of the ring before removing the cake. Also when slicing the cake it's a lot easier with a hot knife.

The mousse ready to chill in the fridge.

The chocolate glaze ready to pour over the mousse

The finished cake with a lovely set to the glaze

As mentioned before this cake will be appreciated by everyone. If you do want to make it more child-friendly ensure you use a chocolate with a lower cocoa content, hence Bourneville is more ideal than say a 70% chocolate. My children loved this as did myself, hubby and mum:  this is definitely a wow- factor cake for the taste buds!

Stollen Bread and Butter Pudding: use up that Stollen that's in your Christmas hamper or that you got on offer at the supermarket!

Stollen Bread and Butter Pudding page 187

If you've got a spare loaf of stollen knocking around at home, which is likely as they are always on special offer this time of year, or you've been in receipt of one in a gift hamper, then this is a delicious alternative to traditional Christmas pudding and so easy to do. The lovely marzipan running through the centre of the bread gives it a decadent and luxurious touch as part of a bread and butter pudding and served with warm custard is a lovely festive treat.

I really like the book that this recipe comes from, Women's Institiute Complete Christmas: food and crafts for a complete Christmas (2004 ) by Sian Cook, Margaret Williams and Anne Griffiths  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Womens-Institute-Complete-Christmas-Perfect/dp/0743259378/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1388159349&sr=8-8&keywords=women%27s+institute+christmas This is no stuffy, '1950s affair-of a book', but a collection of fabulous contemporary recipes and ideas to add sparkle and delight to your Christmas. I haven't done many recipes yet but one thing I particularly like is a dedicated section to the veggies among us which many of my family members are. There are also really helpful sections on menu planning, Christmas drinks and cheat's Christmas among others.
For my veggie family members I have made the Mushroom Strudel on page 90 and served it with the very tasty Port Sauce on page 99: a great combination that meat-eaters will love too. I'm planning to make individual Stuffed Mushroom and Stilton Tarts (page96) and also the Cherry and White Chocolate Shortbread on page 185. There are updated ideas for your Christmas veggies that quite frankly I'd be very happy to serve at other times of the year to spruce up the old Sunday roast e.g. Baked Mustard and Orange Carrots (page 74), Parsnip Dauphinoise (page 75) or how about Celeriac Puree with Onions and Mustard Seeds (page 79).

Stollen Bread and Butter Pudding (copyright WI Enterprises Ltd. 2004)

Serves 8
150 ml double cream
425 ml milk
1 vanilla pod or I used 1 tsp of vanilla paste
50 g muscovado sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp Amaretto liqueur or brandy

Amaretto liqueur

1 tsp ground cinnamon
14 - 16 thin slices of stollen
50 g butter, softened, plus some extra for greasing

Buttered stollen

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the cream and milk in a saucepan with the vanilla paste or alternatively split a vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds. Bring to just below the boil and remove from heat and leave to infuse for about ten minutes.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together then add the cream mixture, while continuing to whisk. Add the Amaretto and half the cinnamon.

   

   Sliced stollen

3. Spread the stollen slices on one side with the butter and then butter an ovenproof dish (approximately 21 cm x 31cm). Arrange the slices in the dish, overlapping slightly.
4. Strain the custard over the stollen, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon and leave to soak for an hour in the fridge. It can be left for up to two days before baking, although you will need to bring to room temperature before baking.
5. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is firm and golden. Serve with lashings of custard in which you could always add some Amaretto or brandy!

   

   Ready to bake in the oven with a good sprinkling of cinnamon
   
   
   
   
   
   

Staright from the oven

Served with custard

This was a real winner in our household. Of course if you can't get hold of shop-bought stollen, you could always make your own. There is a recipe on page 28 in the above book or several can be found on line by doing a simple search.