CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

One of my sons loves caramel and insisted in a chocolate cake with caramel sauce for his birthday. I should warn you that you try this at your peril...

For the cake you need:
- 350 gr of softened butter
- 350 g sugar
- 6 eggs
- half a teaspoon vanilla essence
- 100 cocoa powder
- 300 gr plain flower
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- a greased and lined round tin.

Preheat the oven a 180 degrees. Beat the butter and sugar with a hand held mixer (or by hand) until they become pale. Then add the eggs and the vanilla. Separately mix the flour and baking powder. Mix one quarter of the flour mixture with the butter and sugar one. Then add the rest of the flour. Put it all into the greased and lined tin and bake it for 45 minutes.  After the cake is cooked you will need to wait five to ten minutes before you take it off the tin.

For the caramel sauce (which comes from a Nigella recipe, though she does it with double cream) you need: 50 gr of caster sugar, 50 gr of golden syrup, 50 gr of brown sugar and 75 gr of butter. Melt it all together in a pan ( it will only take a few minutes so watch it as it melts) Add three table spoons of creme fraiche and a teaspoon of Maldon salt. Once it cools down a little pour it over the cake or serve it on the side. The only problem with this sauce is that you can actually eat it with a spoon, so keep off the spoons.

My kids help with any recipe that involves chocolate so this was a good manner to bring them back to the blog. We have not written much for a while but it is tough competing against football...