Double Chocolate Cake

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This moist, dark chocolate cake dotted with chocolate chips surpasses any ovenbaked version and is beautifully even-textured. It is finished with a thick, shiny chocolate glaze but, if you prefer, dust the top with a mixture of cocoa powder and icing (confectioners') sugar instead.

Serves 4

For the cake:
65 g/2½ oz/1/3 cup butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
40 g/1½ oz/3 tbsp light brown sugar
15 g/½ oz clear honey
50 g/2 oz/½ cup self-raising flour
20 ml/1½ tbsp cocoa (unsweetened chocolate) powder
1.5 ml/¼ tsp baking powder
1 egg, lightly beaten
5 ml/1 tsp vanilla essence (extract)
50 g/2 oz/½ cup plain (semisweet) chocolate chips
For the chocolate glaze:
50 g/2 oz/½ cup plain chocolate chips
45 ml/3 tbsp double (heavy) cream
7.5 ml/½ tbsp golden (light corn) syrup


  1. Place an upturned saucer or a metal pastry (paste) cutter in the base of the ceramic cooking pot. Pour in about 5 cm/2 in of hot (not boiling) water, then turn on the slow cooker to High. Grease a 13-15 cm/5-6 in round fixed-base cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.
  2. To make the cake, put the butter, sugar and honey in a bowl and mix until just combined. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder over and add the egg and vanilla essence. Beat everything together for a minute or two until thoroughly combined. Alternatively, put all the ingredients in a food processor and whiz together for about 30 seconds. Stir in the
    chocolate chips.
  3. Spoon and scrape the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top. Cover the dish with clingfilm (plastic wrap) or with lightly greased foil and place on top of the saucer or pastry cutter in the pot. Pour in enough boiling water to come half-way up the sides of the tin.
  4. Cover with the lid and cook for 2 hours or until the cake is well risen and firm and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Turn off the slow cooker, then carefully remove the cake and stand on a cooling rack for 5 minutes before turning out.
  5. Meanwhile, to make the chocolate glaze, put a heatproof bowl in the hot water in the ceramic cooking pot. Add all the glaze ingredients and leave until melted, then stir together. Leave the glaze in the slow cooker until the cake is cold (as the water cools the glaze will thicken a little). Spoon over the top of the cake, letting some drizzle down the sides as well.