Delicious Chocolate Cake Dessert

Ingredients

• 1.250 gram mixed nuts, coarsely chopped by hand — walnuts, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts
• 2.125 gram glacé fruit, coarsely chopped; includes red and green glacé cherries; optional
• 3.500 gram marie biscuits, coarsely chopped by hand — usually 2½ packets
• 4.500 gram dark chocolate
• 5.500 gram butter
• 6.4 eggs
• 7.250 millilitre castor sugar
• 8.2 tablespoon brandy
• 9.1 teaspoon orange rind, grated
• 10.1 teaspoon lemon rind, grated

Method

1. 1.Oil the loaf tins very generously. Line the bases with foil and oil again.
2. 2.Combine the nuts, glacé fruit and biscuits. It is better to chop all this by hand.
3. 3.Melt chocolate and butter over hot water. Add the brandy.
4. 4.Beat the eggs and castor sugar until thick and creamy. Add to the melted chocolate.
5. 5.Fold through the rinds.
6. 6.Fold in the nut, fruit and biscuit mixture.
7. 7.Place mixture into tins, pressing well into corners and levelling the top. Cover and deep freeze overnight at least.
8. 8.About an hour before serving, invert onto a board. Slice thinly and leave in fridge until you serve.
9. 9.Serve with crème fraîche or a mascarpone cream. Strawberries dipped in chocolate make a good trim.

Notes

• This recipe makes a very large quantity — 2 loaf tins. Recipe halves easily.
• Marie biscuits = plain sweet biscuits (similar to Rich Tea); widely available in South Africa.
• It is better to chop all the nuts and biscuits by hand rather than in a processor, to keep the texture coarse.