Chef Dario Cavaliere writes a weekly food column for the Waterford News & Star
THIS is a delicious chocolate and berry cake that works well as it is made in layers, so that you can taste the chocolate layer and the berry layer separately, and yet the flavours go really well. The only thing is that you will need to go to a health food shop to get the freeze dried berries or berry powder, as I have not as of yet found it in any of the supermarkets. I sometimes order it online and it arrives in two days. If you can only get the berries and not the powder then pulse the berries in a processor or smash in a pestle and mortar until you have powder.
Ingredients:
250g flour
250g soft unsalted butter
40g freeze dried berry powder
6 eggs
200g caster sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200oC and butter a 2lb loaf tin. Mix the flour with the baking powder and set aside.
Meanwhile, beat the sugar and butter together using an electric mixer, and add the eggs, one at a time until completely incorporated, then add the flour and baking powder mix. Mix well until you have a smooth batter.
Divide the batter in half between two mixing bowls. Stir the dried berry powder into one half and mix well. Whisk the cocoa powder into the other half and again mix well.
Pour one third of the chocolate mix into the bottom of the buttered loaf tin. Follow with almost all of the berry mixture. Then top with the remaining chocolate mix, before finally placing the remainder of the berry mixture on the very top.
Cook for 45 minutes until the cake has risen and a skewer comes out clean, then remove and cool in the tin for 15 minutes before cooling completely on a wire rack.
