I loved the food in Oregon, and this rich chocolate cake is almost brownie-like, reminding me of the superb chocolate shops of Portland and of course the juicy berries for which that state is known. My mother shared her recipe with me; I've added more raspberries, as raspberry and chocolate is one of my best flavour combinations.
Cuts into 12 pieces
• 400g caster sugar
• 200g butter
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp pure vanilla essence
• 75g cocoa (I use Valrhona)
• 100g flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup frozen raspberries (or fresh)
• Icing sugar for dusting
1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C. Prepare a 22cm square tin by buttering the sides and base and dusting with flour. Shake off any excess flour.
2. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until soft and fluffy. Add the eggs, a little at a time, with the vanilla and beat well.
3. Sift the cocoa, flour and baking powder together, and fold carefully into the mixture.
4. Turn half the mixture into the prepared tin. Scatter over half the raspberries, and then top with the remaining mixture. Dot the top with raspberries, and place the tin in the oven.
5. After 45 minutes, check the cake is cooked by poking the middle with a wooden skewer. If it comes out clean and the cake has started to pull away from the sides of the tin, remove it from the oven. Turn out onto a wire rack and when cool, dust the top with icing sugar.
Serve with freshly whipped cream or a thick, Greek-style plain yoghurt and raspberry sauce made from 1 cup of raspberries pureed with 4tbsp of sugar.
Recipe from Lauraine Jacob's new cookbook, Everlasting Feast (Random House NZ $55).
