Mairi Sawyer’s chocolate cake

It’s one of our best-loved places, but Inverewe – the lush garden in the far north-west of Scotland – is to be celebrated for more than its amazing plant life. Its co-creator, Mairi Sawyer, was also a keen cook and I’ve got my hands on her original recipes. Visitors tell of having tea with her 40–50 years ago, and they always speak of her chocolate cake with a light in their eyes.

Cherry is a natural partner for chocolate – a winning combination that has stood the test of time. The resulting bake is a delicious but not overly chocolatey cake, with a close texture akin to a gingerbread.

Ingredients

• 6oz butter
• 6oz melted chocolate
• 4oz ground almonds
• 4 eggs (separated)
• Maraschino flavouring or cherry liqueur
• 7oz sugar
• 4oz plain flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• Water icing

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350F/160C fan
2. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream and add the melted chocolate, flour, baking powder and ground almonds, beating thoroughly with each addition.
3. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time.
4. Whip the egg whites until fairly stiff and fold lightly into the mixture with a metal spoon.
5. Put the mixture into a well-greased and lined cake tin (I found a 24x24x5cm tin worked perfectly).
6. Bake in a moderate oven. The original recipe said 70 minutes, but I found 55 minutes did the trick.
7. When cool, ice with thin water icing flavoured with maraschino.

Read more about Claire’s culinary adventures at foodiequine.co.uk