‘Happy New Year!’
I can hear my parents’ voices now, trumpeting through the house as they returned in the early hours after partying in the New Year. I’m not sure why, but it was very much their celebration - dinner out, dancing and champagne – and part of the ritual was evidently arriving home and waking up my brother and me (not to mention Rusty and Jane, my mother’s Yorkshire terriers) with whooping and rumpus-making.
Since then – and there have been quite a few since-thens – I’ve tried different approaches to the occasion, which I regard a swinging door between the old and the new. (You have to watch out for swinging doors: they have their place, but can slam you in the face, or trap your fingers.)
Once, in a spirit of feng shui, I decided I would get my entire life up to date to see in the New Year. Thank you letters were written and posted, bills paid, washing and ironing done, house cleaned, dishwasher emptied. It felt very cleansing, though nowadays I feel it sufficient to empty my email inbox and take the bins out.
It's a shame to make resolutions and not keep them, but last year I had a brainwave: why not make ones that you actually want to keep? Top of my list was ‘no new subscriptions’ – which has saved me a fortune, and will be renewed. This year. I intend to sample my way through the entire hot chocolate range at Knoops. If you haven’t encountered Knoops yet, it’s a trendy establishment offering hot chocolate in dozens of different formulations, as well as home-made marshmallows and the most bouffant pains au chocolat I’ve ever seen. We’re lucky enough to have a branch in Exeter High Street, and it's my new hang-out.
In the spirit of chocolate, I have an exclusive treat for you: a recipe from Murder Below Deck, out in March. This gorgeous cake is made by Paul Delamare as a surprise for his fellow guests on the third night of their Atlantic cruise. It was made famous by Julia Child, and the photograph here was taken by Angela Nilsen. (The recipe may look long, because I explain everything carefully, but I promise it isn’t particularly difficult to make.)
Queen of Sheba Cake
Serves 8
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE MERINGUE
3 egg whitespinch of salt
¼ tsp cream of tartar
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon white wine or cider vinegar
FOR THE CAKE
120 g dark chocolate,
broken finely or chopped
25 g ground almonds
40 g plain flour
20 g cornflour
120 g butter, softened
150 g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons rum, brandy or coffee
FOR THE GLAZE
100 g dark chocolate, broken finely or chopped
25–50 g butter (see step 8)
1 tablespoon rum, brandy or coffee
flaked almonds, well toasted, to decorate (optional)
METHOD
1. Butter a 20 cm loose-bottomed cake tin, about 4–5cm deep, and line base with a disc of baking paper
.2. Melt the 120 g chocolate for the cake in a bowl over hot water, or 2–3 minutes in the microwave. Leave to cool.
3. For the meringue, put the whites, salt and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer, or use an electric hand whisk. Whisk till beginning to stiffen, then add the sugar in two goes. When the mixture is stiff and meringue-like, beat in the vinegar and set aside. If you are using a stand mixer and have a spare bowl, use it now, otherwise transfer the beaten whites to a fresh bowl, and rinse the bowl ready for the chocolate mixture.
4. For the cake, mix the ground almonds, flour and cornflour in a small bowl. Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts using stand or electric hand mixer, until light and creamy, then beat in the yolks, followed by the cooled chocolate and rum.
5. Gently fold in a third of the meringue mixture using a large metal spoon, then half the flour mixture, then repeat, finishing with remaining meringue mixture. There should be no lumps of egg white or flour visible. Spoon the mixture into the tin and lightly spread it out to the edges.
6. Bake in a 180°C/160°C fan oven. There is no need to preheat – in which case it will take 25–28 minutes; if you do preheat, it will take 22–25 minutes. Rotate at half time if necessary. The cake is cooked when a toothpick inserted about 5 cm from the edge comes out clean, with a few crumbs attached. The centre of the cake should feel slightly soft to the touch but not liquid.
7. Run a palette knife round the edge of the cake, then allow to cool for ten minutes. Invert onto a rack, discard baking paper and leave to cool completely – about an hour. You can make a day ahead and wrap if convenient.
8. Melt the chocolate for the glaze with the butter and rum (as in step 2) till smooth. Chocolate varies, so if it’s too thick to pour melt in an extra 25 g butter. Put the cake (still inverted) on a rack with a sheet of baking paper underneath and pour the glaze over it, smoothing top and sides. Decorate with almonds if you wish.9. When set, remove to a cake plate. If you refrigerate this, the finish will go dull, so best kept in a container at room temperature and served within a day or two.
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