I have two majors which are already more than 30 years old. One of them had decided that 'Enough is enough! I want to retire!' And so it did after going through numerous corrective surgery!
Well, I still have one faithful noisy major left, still going strong and not wanting to retire.
I used to bake daily in bulk because of the many orders I received from friends, colleagues and even strangers who came to know about my cakes by word of mouth. I had people whom I did not know, calling up to ask if I had cakes available for sale. I had to tell them that they had to place their orders. There was also a pastor who came all way from the western part of the tiny red dot, thinking that he could buy some cakes on the spot.
I have completely retired from the baking business. Now I only bake for pleasure which was why I bought the chef this morning. It's smaller and suits my baking needs which means I bake smaller portions!
Here's the recipe:
145g bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona (66.5%), finely chopped (I used cadbury)
260g unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
250g sugar (I used fine sugar)
140g all-purpose flour
145g pecans, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped (I used 1/2 pecans and 1/2 walnuts)
1. Grease and line a 24 x 30-cm tin. Preheat oven at 180 deg C.
2. Melt chocolate in bowl over simmering water or in a microwave oven. Set aside.
3. Beat butter until smooth and creamy but not airy. Stir in chocolate. Gradually add eggs and then sugar. Stir only to incorporate each ingredient. Finally add flour and nuts.
4. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 19 to 20 minutes. The top of the cake will be dry, but a knife inserted in the centre will come out wet. Remove from oven.
5. Remove from tin and paper. Cool on rack. Cut into squares or rectangles and serve.
Tsk! Tsk! Bad slicing job! That's for being impatient!
It's not as moist as I expected. I had overbaked it. I should have taken it out of the oven when I tested the centre which was slightly wettish and going by the book, it should. It could have been more chocolatey if I had used Valrhona. Okay, lesson learnt!
But the nuts were super!
