Dark Chocolate Slice
This dark, not overly sweet chocolate slice is just perfect for anyone who loves the taste of chocolate but doesn’t like their desserts too sweet.
Now, a word regarding the key ingredient here. Some flavours are neutral, they can be sweet or savoury, depending on what you combine them with. Flour is a good example of this. Flour can be used to bake cakes full of cherries or quiches full of cheese.
So don’t freak out when I tell you that the delicious, soft frosting/icing on my slice is really…potato.
I haven’t told Dad this. He’s not what you would call an ‘adventurous eater’. I consider the fact he’s currently scoffing slabs and slabs of this slice (and always selecting the biggest pieces from the plate, too), is proof that it’s good.
(Please note, I really do mean regular potatoes, as in the stuff you make French fries from. Sweet potato is not a potato. It’s related to Morning Glories, whereas regular potatoes are related to tomatoes. True story.)
Instructions.
Preheat the oven to 220c (428 f).
Base Ingredients:
Half a cup of honey.
Two thirds of a cup of oil.
Two tablespoons of vanilla essence.
Two cups of self-raising flour.
Half a cup of polenta.
Half a cup of cocoa
One teaspoon of salt.
Instructions.
Combine the honey, oil and vanilla essence.
Add the flour, polenta, cocoa powder and salt.
Mix the ingredients into a stiff dough.
Line a slice tin with baking paper.
Press the mixture into the slice tin.
Bake for twenty minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
Topping ingredients.
Three peeled, hot boiled potatoes.
About a cup of the water used for cooking the potatoes.
Half a cup of cocoa.
Half a cup of coconut cream.
Half a cup of oil.
Two tablespoons of vanilla essence.
One teaspoon of gelatine, bloomed in about two tablespoons of hot non-dairy milk.
About half a cup of honey (you will need to taste this recipe as you go, and you may need more.)
One cup of chopped toasted nuts.
Instructions.
Use a kitchen wand to blend the potato, coconut cream, vanilla essence, oil, salt, honey, gelatine mixture and water.
(If you don’t have a kitchen wand, please see my tips and tricks section at the end of the recipe, where I tell you how to get a really smooth finish by hand.)
Once your potato mixture is super smooth, add the chopped nuts.
Pour your potato mixture onto your slice.
Cover your slice with cling wrap or tin foil. Place it in the fridge for at least two hours, to set.
When it is set, cut it into slices and serve. It is delicious and as long as you don’t tell anyone, no one will realize it’s potatoes.
Tips and Tricks.
I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but white supermarket potatoes that have been bumping around the country for weeks, losing their freshness, are a great choice for this recipe. Fresh potatoes have way more flavour and I didn’t really want the potatoes asserting their potato-y personalities in this recipe.
I also avoided red potatoes for the same reason. Too much potato-ish flavour for a dessert.
I have seen recipes claiming sweet potato makes a good frosting/icing. Maybe that is true, but I consider sweet potatoes to be less of a neutral flavour than regular potatoes.
But cooking is creative, so if you make a delicious frosting with sweet potatoes, please let me know!
If you would like to convert this into a vegan recipe, just switch out the honey for maple syrup. Remember to taste as you go and adjust accordingly.
Regarding my recommendation to use a kitchen wand, if you don’t have one, you can just use a masher and a whisk.
Just be sure to mash the potato until its totally smashed and then whisk it until it’s absolutely smooth.
We don’t want to alarm the less adventurous, more direct members of our tribes with chunks of un-smashed potato. They will surely start yelling “THERE’S POTATO IN THIS CAKE! YUCK!”
Being a maiden of Scottish extraction, adorned with almost red hair, I find that kind of talk pretty offensive, and am liable to respond with a statement of my own, phrased in manner which hardly qualifies as gracious femininity.
Therefore, ‘tis best that the potatoes be truly pulverized.
