What a Friday… I think it’s Friday, not sure all I know is that I am a light weight.

A few years back, I went a tad bit crazeee buying every single bottle of wine I ever came across in the grocery store, I just kept it in storage to mature. I used to have a wine rack in the kitchen, but my mother said what would the family think if they came around and saw she, the HOLY one, had wine in view of the world….

Meaning, my mother shoved my wine rack and all my bottles of wine, right at the back of the broom cupboard, behind all the brooms and cleaning material. My mother needs to get with the program, Indian people drink wine in the 21^st century.

Anyway last night I was typing up a recipe like I normally due, making sure I follow ALL the rules set out in the rules book, no plagiarizing no breaking of copy right laws and I even used my own original photo and then I got an email to tell me not to share this particular recipe as I was not given permission. Wow okay, I am a novice in this whole field, but fuelled by curiosity and stubbornness I researched the living day lights out of plagiarism and copy right laws.

For example, you can’t copy a recipe verbatim, that’s illegal and you can’t use the photo if you did not take it, you have to ask permission for the photo and then in every article I came across it states that although a recipe is protected by copy right laws the ingredients are not and if you use your own introduction and your own method, you aren’t breaking any laws or rules… okay well I hope that is what I read…if anyone knows anything or is willing to give me a summarized version on the ins and outs of these laws, please contact me urgently.

I never really tried to research copy right laws so in depth before. I knew the basics from highschool English classes and then varsity research ethical rules and regulations… boy varsity rules and regulations were down right strict. More than one line plagiarized and you were in deep trouble.

Work went by in a blur, seeing as I kept researching rules every time someone wasn’t looking and then work ended and when I came home, I came crashing down from the sleep deprivation/wine high I was riding…I only had ¼ cup of red wine and I was high, I am such a light weight drinker all of a sudden.

If one high wasn’t enough, all my body craved was a sugar high after that and e only thing that I seemed to have was left over Easter Egg milk chocolates and it didn’t really scream to me… cake was screaming my name. Then I remembered that I had come across a recipe of Nisha Katona’s that used chocolate, although the recipe asked for bitter or semi sweet…both are not hits in our household… I didn’t see the harm in substituting. Another big yes for this recipe, was that it used ganache instead of butter cream and what comes to mind when you think of ganache??? Licking the bowl and spoon clean like a 5 year old.

The original recipe required eggs, but I substituted it for vegan eggs and the cake came out like it should.

I kept pestering my parents as to what they could taste in the cake, their palate could only taste cococa and chocolate and more chocolate, I shocked them by telling them that there was in fact turmeric powder and garam masala in there as well…After that mention, my father was like the cake tastes too bitter now, but that’s what happens when you put too much garam masala in. As if, he didn’t even taste it first time around.

Ingredients:

• 200g x milk chocolate.
• 220g x butter, room temperature.
• ½ x cup water.
• ¼ x tsp cardamom powder.
• 1/8 x tsp clove powder.
• ¼ x tsp nutmeg powder.
• ¼ x tsp turmeric powder.
• ¼ x tsp garam masala.
• ½ x cup self  – raising flour, sifted.
• ½ x cup cake flour, sifted.
• ¼ x tsp bicarbonate of soda.
• 1 x cup light brown sugar, sifted.
• ¾ x cup castor sugar, sifted.
• 35g x cocoa powder, sifted.
• 3 x vegan eggs.
• ¼ x cup milk, room temperature.

Method:

• In a bowl, place the chocolate, butter, cardamom powder, cloves powder, nutmeg powder, turermic powder and garam masala.
• Place the bowl over a pot with simmering water.
• Allow the butter and chocolate to melt and then add the water, stir till everything is well combined.
• Remove from the heat and set aside in the meantime.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together both the self-raising flour and cake flour.
• Whisk in the bicarbonate of soda, both the brown sugar and castor sugar and cocoa powder and set aside.
• In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.
• Pour the melted chocolate mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk.
• Pour in the egg mixture and whisk till well combined and there is no flour visible.
• Pour into a greased cake tin.
• Pop into a preheated oven and bake at 180 degrees for 45 – 60 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the cake tin, before turning out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
• Once cooled, spread over the ganache and add any extra toppings you like, I added chopped pistachio nuts and freeze dried strawberries.
• To make the ganache heat 1 cup cream and pour over 220g milk chocolate, cover the mixture with a plate for a few seconds so as to not allow the heat to escape, remove the lid and mix the chocolate and cream till it is nice and smooth.