Recipe - Chocolate sponge with salted caramel sauce and popcorn

Today I have a delicious recipe to share for a chocolate sponge with salted caramel sauce and popcorn. This recipe was created by Chef Holly Taylor for Kindling Restaurant in Brighton. The dessert is dairy free, suitable for vegans and also has a gluten free option. It would make an amazing Mother's Day treat! 

This recipe was created by Chef Holly Taylor.

Photo credit Jo Hunt

To make the sponge cake:

Ingredients required

75g oil

35g good quality cocoa powder

220g dairy free yogurt e.g. soya yogurt

30g oat milk

2 tsp (10ml) distilled vinegar

150g soft dark brown sugar

140g self-raising flour (gluten-free self-raising flour will also work here)

¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp table salt

Method

Line an 8-inch square cake tin with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 170C.

Place the oil and cocoa powder in a small pan and heat gently for a few minutes to help bring out the flavour of the chocolate, then set aside to cool.

Put the dairy free yogurt, oat milk, vinegar and sugar together in a mixing bowl or mixer and whisk until smooth. Then stir in the chocolate and oil mixture.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a clean bowl. Fold into the wet ingredients, mixing well to avoid any lumps.

Pour into the lined cake tin and gently level using a spatula, being careful to avoid removing too much air from the cake.

Bake in the preheated oven at 170C for 20 - 25 mins, until risen and springy to the touch.

To make the salted caramel sauce:

Ingredients required

200g vegan butter alternative

250g soft dark brown sugar

125g golden syrup

Large pinch of Maldon sea salt

Method

Place all the ingredients in a medium sized pan and heat gently over a low heat, whisking until combined.

Whisk the sauce occasionally as it cools to ensure a silky texture.

To make the popcorn:

Ingredients required

A small handful of popping corn kernels

2 tbsp of oil

Fine salt for seasoning

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan on medium high heat. 

Put 3 or 4 piece of popping corn into the oil and cover the pan.

When the test kernels pop, add the rest of the popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover, remove from heat and wait 30 seconds.

Return the pan to the heat and gently shake it as the popcorn starts to pop. 

Try to keep the lid slightly ajar or use a lid with a vent hole in it to help release some of the steam.

Once the popping slows, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and put the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl. Sprinkle with salt and toss to ensure it is evenly seasoned.

To serve: 

Cut slices of the cake into long fingers. Drizzle with the caramel sauce and top with salted popcorn. Serve with chocolate sorbet or dairy free ice cream. 

Photo credit Jo Hunt

Celebrating a birthday with a Python coding theme

This week Harry turned 13 - we now have a teenager in the house! His current top interest at the moment is the programming language Python. Over the last few months he has taught it to himself, and he spends ages working away on his coding and writing programmes. So I decided that I would bring a Python theme to his birthday.

My first thought was the cake. The Python logo is pretty simple and could probably be recreated with fondant icing but my skills aren't that good so I cheated and bought a printed cake topper. There are lots of companies that do this, I used one that I found on Amazon and have used before. You upload your own picture and choose some text, then the printed cake topper arrives a few days later. It's slightly larger than the size of cake that I normally make but I was able to cut it to fit.

The trouble is that Harry doesn't actually like cake. He likes having the cake experience and blowing out the candles, which is why I made him one, but he won't eat it. So last year I made him a batch of biscuits to go with it, and I did the same this year with some Python cookies.

I was going to make a paper template and cut the biscuits by hand, but then I was really pleased to find a Python logo biscuit cutter on eBay. The company offers cookie cutters in a huge range of designs which are machine printed and I was very happy with it. It was a little fiddly to use admittedly, especially around the eyes, but it made some lovely shaped biscuits that were instantly recognisable (well, at least to those that know their programming languages!)

I piled everything up on a cake tray, along with some glittery candles and chocolate fingers which are one of the few biscuits that he likes. Then I decorated with yellow and blue balloons. I think he was pleased!