Not long ago, we went to a community BBQ. There have been quite a few burglaries in the area and it's been decided that if you know your neighbour, you're more likely to look out for them and them for you. It's a good theory and there was a huge turnout. There was good company, a raffle in which I won 500g of whitebait and a chunk of smoked marlin and of course there was a lot of food.
I'm normally not a chocolate person, it's quite normal for me to eat maybe one chocolate bar a year if that, but I am a big chocolate cake fan. I like them gooey and fudgey, served warm with cream or cold with ice cream. There was no cream or ice cream at the BBQ but there was a chocolate cake that made me re-evaluate life itself. It was that good, I shit you not.
Of course, I cornered the woman who had brought it alone and tortured her (asked politely) for the recipe. She even ended up posting it on Facebook for everyone. I think she said it came from the Australian Woman's Weekly but don't hold me to that. Well, I made the cake with a few twists and I'm here to tell you that it was amazing.
I didn't have any cocoa powder so I used Milo instead and it turned out really well. The cake wasn't as rich as when it's made with cocoa powder but that suited my just fine as I served this with cookie dough ice cream which can be a little heavy with a cake.
Also, if you don't know what a poke cake is, it's a cake that you poke so when you pour a sauce over the top, it absorbs into the cake. Yeah, it's amazing. Thank you America.
Oh, added bonus, no need to use a hand mixer, stand mixer or any electrical equipment to whip up this cake. That's right, just a whisk and a wooden spoon!
Ingredients:
1/2C Milk
1TBsp White Vinegar
1C Sugar
1 Egg
1/2tsp Salt
1tsp Vanilla
1/2C Oil
1/2C Milo
2TBsp Instant Coffee Powder
2 1/2C Self-Raising Flour
1/2tsp Baking Soda (Bicarb)
1TBsp Jack Daniels
1// Whisk together your sugar, salt, Milo, coffee powder and flour.
2// In a separate bowl, beat together your egg, vanilla, oil and Jack Daniels. You can use another type of spirit, for example I used white rum, instead of Jack Daniels but make sure it isn't a flavoured alcohol otherwise it might taint the cake.
3// Add your wet ingredients to the dry ingredients slowly as you combine it altogether. It should form quite a stiff batter.
4// Pop your vinegar on top of the mixture and then add your baking soda (bicarb) on top of that. It will fizz and bubble like those volcanoes you make at school. That's what you want! Let it do it's thing for a moment or two before folding it into the cake batter. The batter should start to become light and airy after that so don't worry if you thought the cake was a bit dense before.
5// I used a casserole dish for this cake but you could use a springform or push pan if you wanted a stand alone cake. I didn't greasy my dish at all but you might need to greasy or paper your pans if you're not using a casserole dish. Pop the mixture into your desired container and pop into a pre-heated oven at 190 degrees C for 25 to 30 minutes.
Frosting:
150g Butter
1C Icing Sugar
1C Boiling Water
1/2C Milo
2tsp Instant Coffee Powder
1// Add the boiling water to the Milo and the coffee powder. If you want to add more Milo powder then go right ahead. This part isn't so much about measurements as consistency and you might need to tweak this part to work with your climate.
2// Melt the butter and add it to the Milo and coffee. Then add the icing sugar, beating it thoroughly until combined. You want a liquid consistency so add more water if needed.
3// While the cake is hot out of the oven, poke holes in it using a skewer or a spoon handle. The more holes, the better the absorption but be careful that your cake doesn't look like a teenager's acne ridden face. Not too many holes.
4// Pour your liquid mixture onto the cake, trying to spread it out evenly if you can. The dish will sizzle, the liquid will bubble, that's totally ok.
5// Let the cake cool before serving.
Because of the added liquid on top, the cake is going to go like a fudgey brownie on the inside. Trust me when I say this is one of the best recipes ever. Ever.
I know a lot of people prefer white poke cakes, but I think chocolate is always better when it comes to cake simply because of the colour and the consistency. But you do you.
