On Day 14 of lockdown I felt the urge to bake a cake using whatever ingredients I could find in my larder. I hadn’t been able to find any flour in my local shops but luckily there was a packet of organic wholemeal rye flour, long forgotten in my cupboard. On the back of it was the recipe below using two of my favourite ingredients: chocolate and almonds!  Thankfully, I managed to assemble all the other ingredients without leaving the house and hey presto a yummy cake was ready an hour or so later.  I’m sure the recipe can be adapted as not everyone will have all the ingredients to hand.  For example, I did not have any glacé peel but thought to use bits from the Seville orange marmalade in my fridge.  Baking is very enjoyable and comforting at the best of times I find, but in these strange times of continued lockdown it can also provide an opportunity to share with our loved ones, even if we can only do this virtually by sending each other pictures or by sharing them on social media.  As for the calories, don’t forget we are allowed one outing a day for exercise. So let’s all try and keep life sweet for a long as it takes!

Aspa

This traditional, Austrian style, chocolate cake is delicious with or without the icing. It slices easily and keeps well.

• Cake ingredients: 25g glacé peel, 3 eggs, 100g caster sugar, 75g plain chocolate, 75g butter, 75g wholemeal rye flour, 1/2 tsp  cinnamon, 75g ground almonds
  
• For the icing: 15g butter, 15g cocoa, 50g caster sugar, 2 tbsp  cream, 1/2tsp  vanilla extract, blanched almonds

• Method:

1.  Finely dice the glacé peel & set aside.
2.  In a large bowl beat the eggs and caster sugar until they thicken.
3.  Gently melt together chocolate & butter then beat this into the mix. 
4. Mix in the flour and cinnamon.
5. Stir in the diced almonds and diced peel.
6. Tip the mixture into a 1kg/2lb loaf tin, or a round tin, and bake in a pre-heated oven. cooking time 45-50 minutes at 180°C . Enjoy!