The Economy of Cake, A Bang for Buck Goodie!

In the Science fiction Novels of DP Bremmen the Iron Law of Space is Scarcity.

It's the Iron Law of the kitchen too. Time, energy and patience and effort are always scarce and what is scarce has to be hoarded.That is why everyone needs a Bang-for-Buck list, cakes that return hugely for what it takes to make them. Difference between Earth and space is someone makes the goods we need cheaper and better every year!

This is the ultimate chocolate cake, or rather the ultimate adult chocolate cake, takes about 10 minutes to make and beats every other chocolate dessert off the table. I got the recipe from from Delia Smith's Christmas over 14 years ago but could not buy double cream here at the time. Single cream makes a sulky, ill-behaved dry chocolate so-what, double a delectable well behaved please-can-I-have-the-recipe. Takes 24 hours in the fridge.(just twenty four hours in the fridgedaire, just twenty four hours from your lips!)

Watch this for sheer easy!

Put 1lb of really good dark chocolate (I uses Lidl 60%) broken up in a heat-proof bowl.
Add 5 tablespoons of Rum & 5 tablespoons of Liquid Glucose.
Put in the microwave and heat at a low (I use 300w)until the chocolate is completely soft.
Stir gently until the mixture is uniform. Sit the bowl down, we have 3 things to do.
Line the bottom of a 9" spring-form tin with parchment.
Scatter 3 oz of finely crushed ameretti biscuits (the hard crispy ones- I get them from Shortis Wong's food treasure house on John St) on the parchment- you don't even have to measure, its about half the packet if you eat 2 for yourself. (oh Dusty! You doooon't even have to meeeeeasure, you don't even haaaaaave to say you loveeeeve me....)
Beat 1 pint of DOUBLE CREAM and a pinch of salt (always salt for chocolate!) gently until the cream just thickens.
The lining,crushing, scattering and beating should take just about 5 minutes, time for our chocolate to be just cooled.
Stir HALF the cream gently and thoroughly into the choc/rum/glucose and pour this mixture into the rest of the cream and do the gently and thoroughly stirring again so we have one uniform mixture.
Pour this into the tin, cover with cling-film and put in the 'fridge.
24 hours ( or 4 days- you can make this babe well ahead!) loosen at the sides with a knife, take off the sides, cover the cake with a flat plate and invert.
Take off the tin base which is now on top, carefully peel away the parchment and that is it.
Oh joy!

Delia Smith can be found on-line at Deliaonline. Find her spiced apricot and orange chutney. She uses coriander seed as the spice in orange which brings me to a wonderfully oddball cake that is a bit more effort but still a bang-for-buck goodie, Spiced Orange Cake. I will deal that with next but need to go now and make something to please three year old Caitlin who is coming calling.

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ingredients:
1lb 60% chocolate
1 pint double cream
5 table-spoons liquid glucose
5 table-spoons rum
3 oz ammereti biscuits
pinch salt
tin: 9" springform bottom lined with parchment