Valentine’s chocolate truffle cake

- Recipe by Shane Smith -

A WORD FROM THE CHEF

Want to make something sweet to impress your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day? You can’t go wrong with this recipe. The way to a man (or woman’s) heart...

INGREDIENTS

(Serves 8)

225g plain flour

350g caster sugar

85g cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons bread soda

Two medium eggs

250ml milk

125ml vegetable oil

One teaspoon vanilla extract

250ml boiling water

For the chocolate cake topping

100g dark chocolate

70ml single cream

Selection of berries

For the chocolate truffles:

200g dark chocolate

100ml single cream

10g butter

50g cocoa powder

METHOD

To make the truffles, simply place the cream, butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Stir until everything is melted and combined. Place in a container in the fridge overnight to firm up.

For the cake, line the base of a 7” round loose bottom cake tin with parchment paper.

Butter and flour the base and sides of the tin.

In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients except the boiling water and mix.

Once combined, carefully add the boiling water and mix until everything is dissolved.

Pour this batter into the tin and bake at 165C for 60-70 minutes

Once baked, allow to cool in the tin before removing.

To finish the truffles, remove from the fridge 10 minutes before rolling. Using a teaspoon scoop out some mix and roll into a ball and dust with cocoa powder. Keep chilled until needed. This is a messy job so feel free to use disposable gloves or you can cut your truffles into squares to save time.

For the chocolate cake topping, simply combine the cream and chocolate in a bowl over a pot of gently simmering water.

Once melted, pour over the top of the chocolate cake and garnish with berries and the truffles.

ABOUT THE CHEF

Shane Smith from Lavey can be seen on Today with Maura and Daithí on RTE One.

You can email him at:

shane@chefshanesmith.ie

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