Mum's Red Devil's Cake

This was the cake that was often packed in my school lunchbox. I love its chewy texture and deep-reddish-brown colour. Mum never iced this cake but I suppose you could – it bakes with a bubbly crust on top. The recipe comes from my grandmother’s handwritten collection. A note beside the rather odd method advises that this cake will keep indefinitely. That is quite a claim!

Ingredients

• 125g unsalted butter, softened
•  200g brown sugar
•  2 eggs, separated
•  ½ cup milk
•  250g plain flour
•  1½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
•  1 tablespoon warm water

Chocolate mixture:

• 125g bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup milk, or buttermilk
• few drops of pure vanilla
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C and butter a 22 cm round springform or square cake tin.

To make the chocolate mixture, gently melt chocolate with sugar, milk and vanilla in a saucepan. When smooth, add egg yolk and cook over gentle heat until mixture thickens slightly. Pour through a strainer into a large mixing bowl and allow to cool.

Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat egg yolks lightly and mix with milk, then add to butter mixture alternately with flour. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture into the flour mixture, and whisk to combine.

Dissolve bicarbonate of soda in warm water and stir into mixture. Whisk egg whites to soft peaks, then fold into mixture. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 1 hour or until cake tests clean. Cool cake completely before cutting.