The Real Cup Cake

I love chocolate cake — it’s what teatime was made for. So when I was asked to help judge The Best Chocolate Cake In The World for Delicious Magazine I cleared my schedule. I missed breakfast. I arrived early (there are few things better than sitting in a kitchen as it fills with the smell of baking). And I bought a doggie bag.

The contenders in the cake-off included William Curley and Paul Young, two of the world’s truly great chocolatiers. And helping me to judge were Camilla Schneideman, Managing Director at Leiths School of Food and Wine, and Bea Vo, the director of cake and bake shops Bea’s of Bloomsbury. It took Bea to point out the level of craft in one particular cake’s glassage. It took Camilla to explain what glassage was. The approaches were all radically different, from a classic chocolate cake you just WISHED was like your Mum used to make, to a slice of high high-end patisserie with crystallised fruit. I can’t reveal the winner. Just know that, when you follow the recipe in the November issue of Delicioius, the cake will make people love you. Use your power for good……