AEG Fridge Cake

For the cake:

200g unsalted butter, cubed

100g dark (or milk if you wanna do that!) chocolate

45g cocoa powder

100ml double cream

pinch o’ salt

Now…about 3 handfuls of “stuff you can find in your cupboard/pockets/the corner shop”

I used –

Pink n white mini marshmallows (don’t judge)

Whole almonds

Pistachios

Maltesers

Pretzels

For the Ganache

150ml double cream

150g dark chocolate (chopped up into little pieces) (or milk choc, do your thing)

I used a 7″ tin but 6″or 8″ will work too – the smaller the tin, the longer it will take to set.

In a metal or glass bowl, set over a pan of simmering water (just an inch or so – the water shouldn’t touch the base of the bowl), melt your chocolate, cubed butter, cocoa and double cream. Stir to combine evenly and remove from the heat when all your butter and chocolate has just melted.

Let the mixture cool until your bowl is no longer warm.

Mix in all your stuff!

Pour this all into you tin and pop it in your fridge to set for about 30 mins.

For the Ganache:

Place the chocolate in a bowl

In a small pan, heat your cream until simmering (until you think its hot enough to melt chocolate and no hotter!), Pour this over your chopped chocolate and stir (minimally and gently) to melt all the chocolate, try not to incorporate any air bubbles if you want a smooth finish and promise me you won’t over mix it.

(if you still have some lumps of chocolate that won’t melt, place the bowl over simmering water in the pan as you did for the last step, and melt very gently until all the chocolate is combined)

Pour this carefully over your cake mix and return to the fridge to set completely. Maybe an hour or 2? You’ll know…

Decorate however you like. Maltesers look cute!

Whenever you are working with melted chocolate, you need to be careful to prevent accidentally causing your chocolate to ‘seize’ (this is when it looks curdled, with a rough or grainy texture and appearance)

Tips to prevent seizing:

The easiest way to cause your chocolate to seize is if you allow it to come into contact with any water or liquid. With this in mind, take steps to prevent that happening!

Make sure all your equipment and bowls are dry before using them, and avoid wooden spoons & boards that might have absorbed liquid.

Add to this equation the fact that you’re being asked to use a method that is literally powered by steam – sending droplets of moisture all over the place and you can see how easily annoying accidents can happen. When using a Bain-Maire (or double boiler – our bowl placed over simmering water technique), keep the water hot but not on a rolling boil, and low enough in the pan to prevent splashing.  Always wipe the bottom of your bowl when you remove it from the pan – make this a habit and never skip it! It’s just way too easy for those cheeky droplets to get back into whatever it is you’re working hard on making. And finally, never use a lid on your bowl as this will surely lead to condensation that will work its way right back into your mix.

Ok so nobody’s perfect and lets be honest, its way to hard to control every droplet of steam in the room. So seizing can happen to the best of us – it’s counterintuitive, but the best way to fix chocolate that has seized is actually to add more liquid to it.  Adding just the right amount of water (or another liquid) will dissolve the sugar and cocoa that have clumped and make it a fluid consistency again. Using 1 teaspoon of boiling water at a time, add to the seized chocolate and stir vigorously until the mixture is smooth. Please note this works just fine if you’re chocolate is destined for a sauce, or something fairly liquid and loose, but you dont want to mess too much with a recipe by adding lots of extra liquid.

Take care at each step – wipe the bottom of your bowl every time and you will be fine!

If you are using the chocolate for baking projects, there is another solution. Stir solid vegetable shortening into the chocolate, using 1 tablespoon for every 6 ounces of chocolate. Mix gently and evenly until the chocolate has loosened and the shortening is incorporated. You can now use this chocolate for brownies, cakes, cookies, or other recipes that call for melted chocolate.