Natella's Dense Chocolate & Almond Loaf

On a freezing cold Saturday afternoon I trekked across London to Clapham and Emily's beautiful home for Alex's baby shower.

I was late, very late but luckily I was armed with a yummy variation of Nigella's Dense Chocolate Loaf. I was supposed to be sticking to the original recipe (a big favourite of mine) but I had no bloody vanilla essence left. So I thought i'd go crazy and add almond essence instead. The result was magnificent even if I say so myself! Here is the recipe and some pictures from the day. Thanks to Emily for hosting and Nikki for all the games!

Natella's Dense Chocolate & Almond Loaf.

225g soft unsalted butter

375g dark muscovado sugar

2 lrg eggs, beaten

1tsp almond essence

100g best dark chocolate

200g plain flour

1 tbs bicarbonate of soda

250ml boiling water

23 x 13 x 7 cm loaf tin

Pre heat the oven to 190c.

Grease and line tin (very important)

Cream the butter and sugar. I did this by hand and therefore recommend an electric handheld whisk as I now have huge guns! It was hard work.

Add the beaten eggs and almond essence, beat well.

Fold in the melted chocolate. I melt the chocolate before I do anything so that by this stage it has slightly cooled.

Add the flour and water gradually do not over beat. You should be left with a smooth and fairly runny mix.

Pour the mixture into your lined tin. I find that this recipe makes too much mixture for the size of tin, it is important to only fill the tin to 3/4 full as this cake seriously rises. I used the left over mixture to make a couple of mini loafs to take to work.

Right back to the main loaf. Pop it in the oven and bake for 30 minutes then turn the heat down to 170C and cook for a further 15 minutes.

Wait for it to cool before turning it out.

I topped it with fresh strawberries and served it with double cream.

I listened to Joy Division on the journey to Clapham. SHE'S LOST CONTROL