This month’s book club choice was The Beach Café by Lucy Diamond.

Although it wasn’t the kind of book I’d pick off the shelf myself, the story was about one of those wonderful, impossible dreams that we all dream about sometimes.

Young girl. Aunt leaves her a café in her will. She has to pull it together.
Fall in love along the way. And become a stronger person through it all.

Predictable I know, but a fun read nonetheless.

Also, the setting. Oxford and Cornwall- this book screams with British-ness, and I love that about it.

Side note- On a trip to London last year, I fell in love with the place.
Can you tell? 🙂

Now the food- carrot cake, angel’s food cake, ham sandwiches, pasties- this book makes you hungry! The wonderful part of it is that all of it is heart-warming, no-fuss, home-cooked food. Just the kind I like 🙂

For that reason, I decided to go with Fudgy Chocolate Cake.

This is my favourite chocolate cake recipe. You can’t get it wrong.
Once those ingredients are mixed, you WILL say hello to a dense, fudgy, rich chocolate cake in about 40 minutes.

The icing is as decadent. This is not a cake for the faint-hearted.
Embrace the chocolate attack. You’ll love it 🙂

Here is a slice on my plate. Just before it vanished 😉

Fudgy Chocolate Cake

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Serves: 10–12
Eat this with: Vanilla ice cream

Ingredients:

175 g plain flour, sifted
3 heaped tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
200 g, caster sugar
21/2 tsp baking powder
250ml milk
175 g butter, melted and cooled (salted is fine), plus a bit more for greasing
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence

For the icing:
150 g butter, softened
75 g cocoa powder
150 g icing sugar, sifted, plus a bit more
50 ml, thick cream
sugar flowers to decorate (optional)

Method:

For the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180º C and grease a 8-inch square tin.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together, and then add the wet ingredients. Mix well until everything is incorporated and you have a glossy, thick batter.
3. Pour into the greased tin, and bake for about 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
4. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Once cool, keep in the fridge for about 10 minutes, before gently slicing through the middle, to get two layers. Set aside.

For the icing

1. Mix all the icing ingredients together.
2. Add a little more sugar, if you feel it’s not thick enough.
3. Place the base layer of the cake on a plate. Slather with icing 🙂 Put the top layer over, and cover with the remaining icing. Decorate with delicate sugar flowers, if you wish. This cake tastes wonderful fresh, but only gets better in the fridge.