Comments on: Chocolate Raspberry Crumble Cake

By: Holly

Holly — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:47:41 +0000

Charlotte - oh, excellent, I’m glad it worked out for you - thanks for letting me know.

Sara - I’ve tried the recipe again just now, following it exactly, and it seemed to work for me. Did you maybe add only one of the types of sugar, instead of both brown and white? Or forget to melt the butter? If not, mm, I do think the most likely problem was in the translation of measurements (which is always a treacherous sort of thing), and that you probably ended up with half a stick of butter (around 60 grams) instead of half a cup (around 110-120 grams). I should really get used to giving measurements in grams - I just didn’t have any kitchen scales for so long, so I’m still getting used to the idea of thinking in weight.

I’m glad you managed to salvage something out of the base, anyway.

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:28:55 +0000

I absolutely LOVE this recipe, I’ve tried it a couple of times and it’s worked out perfectly… it’s so rich and it looks beautiful. Chocolate and raspberries, amazing combination!

By: Sara

Sara — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:17:14 +0000

Thanks for replying so promptly!
I think next time I try this recipe I will first properly convert all the measurements to grams… I think that must have been the problem - I must have got some quantity wrong. I am not giving up on this cake yet! :-)
By the way, I hated the thought of throwing the whole thing away, so I scrapped the topping off and cut the base into little squares. They taste very intense, but are perfect with coffee - like chocolate bonbons!

By: Holly

Holly — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:42:35 +0000

Oh dear! I can’t think of anything off-hand - it’s been a year or two since I made this, so next time I’ve got a cake to make I’ll try doing it again, to see what happens. Looking through the recipe now, though, and comparing to my notes, it seems like it ought to be okay.

Unsweetened cocoa is right, so it can’t be that. Did you maybe use half a stick of butter instead of half a cup, for the crumble? No idea about the bitterness of the cake, I’m afraid, it really shouldn’t be with those prortions of sugar+cocoa. I don’t know if anyone else has tried the whole recipe, but a couple of people have tried out the base cake and it worked for them - I don’t know whether you might have accidentally put in less sugar, or more cocoa?

Sorry to hear it didn’t work out, anyway, and thanks for letting me know - I’ll try the recipe again to see if it works for me, or if there’s something wrong in the recipe that I accidentally corrected without noticing when I made it myself.

By: Sara

Sara — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:23:31 +0000

I tried this recipe today and I must have done something wrong because appart from looking nothing like the picture, the cake tastes awful… Has anyone else tried this cake? What kind of cocoa did you use? I used all natural unsweetened cocoa but the cake tastes so bitter, the topping is so dry and uncrumble-like that I wonder if another kind should be used.
I am not an experienced baker so I could have done something else wrong… Any advice would be welcome… Thank you!

By: sharona May

sharona May — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:05:39 +0000

Looks very good. I like the chocolate and raspberry flavor together.

By: Caty

Caty — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 19:52:41 +0000

Wow! That looks really delicious. I love the stolen flakes story too.

By: Antonia

Antonia — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:09:42 +0000

This looks divine - my mouth is literally watering. I have some raspberries that need using up… This is seriously tempting. I love the story about the stolen flakes too! Absolutely true that chocolate does make everything seem nicer - the first time I actually enjoyed a courgette (now a much-loved staple in the veg rack) was as part of a ‘chocolate courgette cake’. Sounds horrible but is, in fact, a fantastic recipe!

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:58:55 +0000

Mmm, pass that packet of chocolate chickpeas!!

Fantastic post - I love the idea that if I have embarked on a sideline career of theft or mass-murder, this cake can make it all better and soothe my friends’ troubled minds. Not that I have plans in that direction, you know. But it’s the kind of household hint that I like. Beats Martha Stewart every time :o)

By: Holly

Holly — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 09:33:12 +0000

Tut, that was careless of me — I used semi-sweet. I’ll edit the recipe to correct that, thanks.