Chocolate Cake: Something for the (Thanksgiving) weekend

With only one week to go until Thanksgiving, we thought it right to give you an extra special ‘Something for the Weekend’. This will knock the socks off your friends and family, and is really pretty easy to put together – perfect for this hectic time of year. So without any further ado, here is our recipe for Tea & Sympathy Chocolate Cake.

Chocolate Cake

“Chocolate cake is a very passionate thing. Several times over the years, we decided to change the recipe and still people came in and asked for previous versions. However, we think this is the best we have ever done.  It was inspired by one of Nigella Lawson’s cakes, but we do it a little differently and add the most delicious icing.”
- From ‘Tea & Sympathy: The Life of an English Tea Shop in New York’.

Serves 8-10
Prep: 1 hr 15 mins

For the cake:
1 cup bittersweet plain dark chocolate
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 ½ cups dark brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup hot water

For the icing:
4 tablespoons milk
¼ cup (1/2 stick butter)
½ cup bittersweet dark chocolate, grated
1 ¾ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
Shaved chocolate optional

• Preheat the oven to 375F.
• Grease an 8-inch cake tin.
• Melt the chocolate in a basin over a pan of hot water; leave to one side.
• Sift the flour and backing soda into a bowl.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time, and then the vanilla.
• With a spatula, fold the melted chocolate into the butter/sugar mixture, then add the flour and baking soda little by little, and then the hot water.
• Pour the mixture into the greased cake tin and bake for 45 minutes.
• Turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool.
• To prepare the icing: Heat the milk, butter and chocolate gently in a saucepan until melted.
• In a medium bowl, pour the chocolate mixture onto the confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth.
• Pour on top of the cake and spread evenly with a spatula, covering the cake completely.
• Decorate the iced cake with a little shaved chocolate.

This, along with all our recipes, is available in our lovely shiny cookbook ‘Tea & Sympathy: The Life of an English Tea Shop in New York’. We have a few copies left in store, which would make excellent Christmas presents. We can ship, so get in touch if you’d like one, either by phone: 212-989-9735, or email: info@teaandsympathynewyork.com.

And here’s hoping one and all have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

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