Weekend food with Darina Allen: Blathnaid’s Chocolate Cake
I recently came across a piece about an American lady called Anne Jarvis who conceived the idea of Mother’s Day in the early 1900s after the death of her own mother. She imagined it as a way of honouring the sacrifices mothers make for their children and how it’s not until we have our own children that we truly begin to appreciate the heroism of our own mothers.
I can’t imagine how young mothers (and fathers) manage to juggle the responsibilities of motherhood and a job nowadays — heroic ‘is truly’ an understatement and if ever a celebration was justified its Mother’s Day.
Anna battled for a number of years to get Mother’s Day officially recognised and in 1914 president Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day in the US.
Of course a bunch of flowers, a box of chocolates or some perfume and a hand-made card are always greeted with delight, but how about the gift of a few hours off? Maybe a couple of gift tokens to do the ironing, wash the dishes or cook the supper, even breakfast in bed with a little posy of flowers on the tray?
Here are a couple of delicious one pot dishes that would make an easy family supper or Sunday lunch and our absolute favourite chocolate cake from 30 years at Ballymaloe.
2 x 9 inch (23cm) tins
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.
Grease the tins with melted butter, dust with flour, and line the base of each with a round of greaseproof paper. Put the milk and chopped chocolate into a saucepan, warm gently until the chocolate melts, and allow to cool. Sieve the flour, salt, bread soda and baking power into a bowl. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk the eggs with the vanilla extract, and add to the creamed mixture bit by bit, alternating with flour. Add the cool milk and chocolate and fold in the remaining flour. Divide between the two prepared tins. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, approximately. Allow to cool for a few minutes. Turn out carefully and cool on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Melt the chocolate in a Pyrex bowl over a saucepan of hot water. Allow to cool slightly.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter in a bowl for at least ten minutes, at the highest setting, until it is white and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and icing sugar. Beat vigorously for a further five minutes.
When the butter mixture is thoroughly mixed, take two tablespoons of it and add slowly to the melted chocolate. Then, slowly pour the melted chocolate down the side of the mixing bowl and fold in quickly, and gently, until fully combined and smooth.
To make the chocolate ganache: Put the chocolate in a large bowl. Bring the cream to the boil, pour over the chocolate and leave for 8-10 minutes, or until cool. Then, whisk the chocolate and cream gently, until it reaches soft peaks — careful not to over-whisk, or it will be too stiff to spread and may turn into chocolate butter. (Use as soon as possible, otherwise it will become too stiff to spread).
Split the cakes in half with a sharp, serrated knife. Spread a little of the chocolate filling onto each cake, and sandwich the base of the cakes together. Ice the cake with the soft, chocolate ganache and decorate as desired. We use chocolate curls and dredge them with unsweetened cocoa and icing sugar.
Your Mum, and all the family, will love this recipe, which Shermin Mustafa Thompson shared with us.
Remove the skin and bone from the chicken thighs. Cut into very thin strips.
Heat the wok on a low heat. Pour 110ml (4fl oz/½ cup) coconut milk into the wok. Add the green curry paste and a pounded green chilli, and mix well. Add the chicken strips, increase the heat to medium. Cook until the chicken changes colour, then add the stock, remainder of the coconut milk, aubergine dice, kaffir lime leaves, palm sugar and fish sauce, half the basil leaves and pounded red chilli.
Stir constantly on a medium heat, until the curry boils and foams up. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring constantly, otherwise the sauce may separate — it should be cooked in about 10 minutes. Add the remainder of the basil leaves. Taste for seasoning, add a dash of soya sauce, if necessary. There should be lots of sauce in proportion to the meat. Serve hot with steamed rice.
Note: If using pea aubergines, add 1-2 minutes before end of cooking.
Mix the ingredients for the marinade together in a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 3-5 minutes. When cool, pour the marinade over the cucumber.
Heat the oil gently and add the garlic. Carefully cook until golden, but no more. This will give you a roasted garlic oil. If you take it too far, the garlic will burn. Add the butter, bacon, and onions. Cook slowly for 15 minutes and add the tomato purée, smoked paprika and the chicken stock. Finally add the beans and cook for five more minutes. Stir in the maple syrup, salt and pepper and serve.
Pan-fry the hake for 5-7 minutes. It may need more time, depending on thickness.
Aioli is essentially a posh garlic mayonnaise. The flavours are made more subtle and rounded by the blanching of the garlic. The addition of olive oil gives it authenticity and an extra dimension. We use this with any Mediterranean-style dishes i.e. anything with olives, red peppers or basil.
This will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks. 8 garlic cloves, blanched (cooked vigorously for three to four minutes in boiling water, then cooked for another three to four minutes in fresh water)
To make the aioli, whizz the garlic cloves, mustard and egg yolks and whole egg in a food processor, until smooth. Add the vinegar and lemon juice and whizz briefly to combine. With the machine running, gradually trickle in the groundnut oil, and then the olive oil, to form a smooth, rich mayonnaise. Fold in the crème fraiche. Season and set aside.
Seaweed Sprinkles — If you can’t make it down to the beach anytime soon, then seaweed sprinkles, from Wild Irish Sea Veg, are a brilliant condiment. For more information see www.wildirishseaveg.com.
Cookery Demonstration — Darina and Rachel Allen will do a fundraising demonstration in aid of East Cork Rapid Response, at Garryvoe Hotel on Thursday, April 10 at 8pm. Tickets, €25 per person, are available from John, 083-1795945, or Eoghan, 087-7061727.
Date for your diary: West Waterford Festival of Food, April 10-13 www.westwaterfordfestivaloffood.com.
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