Cake Week

We’re already onto Week 2 for the Great British Bake Off (don’t worry, we won’t reveal any spoilers in these posts!) Week 2 brings us to CAKE WEEK, one of our favourites! From simple and elegant Victoria Sponges, to the Showstopping Celebration Cakes, there’s so many different flavours to choose from and play around with!

This week, we’ve opted for a Chocolate Sponge Tray-Bake to satisfy even the most keen chocoholic! You don’t need any buttercream or icing with these as they’re sweet and tasty enough on their own as little bite-sized pieces. Perfect for an after dinner dessert, or mid-afternoon snack when you’re needing that extra energy boost on a busy day.

CHOCOLATE SPONGE

Ingredients:

125g dark chocolate (100% cocoa)
100ml milk
100g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the tin
175g honey
150g maple syrup
Seeds scraped from ½ split vanilla pod
50g cacao powder, sieved
2 eggs
150g wholemeal spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C Fan/Gas mark 5. Grease a 30cm x 20cm tin and line with grease-proof paper.

2. Put the chocolate, milk, butter, honey, maple syrup and vanilla seeds in a saucepan. Warm over a very gentle heat, stirring regularly, until everything has melted, and you have a rich, glossy looking batter. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the cacao powder.

3. Allow the mixture to cool for a couple of minutes, then beat in the eggs. Finally add the flour and baking powder. The mixture at this point will look grainier than usual because of the texture of the flour.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until it is just set in the middle but still nice and gooey. Remove the tin from the oven and use the baking paper to help you slide the whole brownie on to a cooling rack as soon as possible so it doesn’t continue to cook. Cut into squares when cool.

W Fitness | Park Centre, Station Road, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 5NX | 0113 345 2550