Brownie cake with whipped yoghurt and raspberries

You can bake this cake the day before the dinner party and quickly whip the yoghurt topping after the main course. The grated baby marrow in the mixture gives the cake a lovely moist texture. If you eat it hot straight from the oven, you’ll find the occasional lump of melted chocolate and the texture will be crumbly – but once it’s cooled down it has the density of a banana loaf and is easy to cut into blocks or wedges. If you prefer the cake sweeter, use milk chocolate rather than 70% dark chocolate.

Makes 1 cake Preparation time 15 minutes Baking time 45 minutes

You need

FOR THE CAKE • 2½ cups (625ml) grated baby marrow • ¾ cup (185ml) cake flour • ¼ cup (60ml) cocoa powder • ¾ teaspoon (3,75ml) bicarbonate of soda • ½ teaspoon (2,5ml) baking powder • 1 teaspoon (5ml) salt • ½ cup (125ml) pecan nuts or almonds,

toasted and finely chopped • 2 slabs (80g each) 70% dark chocolate, broken into blocks • ¼ cup (60ml) butter, melted • ½ cup (125ml) buttermilk or Bulgarian

yoghurt • 1 large egg • ¾ cup (180ml) light-brown sugar • 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla essence

FOR THE WHIPPED YOGHURT • 1 cup (250ml) whipping cream, chilled • ½ cup (125ml) thick Greek-style yoghurt,

chilled • 1 cup (250ml) fresh raspberries • 1-2 tablespoons (15ml-30ml) caster sugar

This is how

Heat the oven to 170˚C and line a loosebottomed cake tin (23cm in diameter, 4cm deep) with baking paper. Spray the sides with nonstick cooking spray.

Spread out the grated baby marrow on a clean tea towel and use a second cloth to press it dry to absorb most of the moisture.

Mix the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt, nuts and three-quarters of the chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients (except the rest of the chocolate) in a second mixing bowl until thoroughly combined. Stir the baby marrow into the wet mixture, then fold the wet mixture into the dry ingredients.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared cake tin and sprinkle the last of the chocolate evenly on top. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool down in the tin for 15 mintues before you turn it out onto a wire rack to cool further. Serve it luke-warm or at room temperature. Make the whipped yoghurt Make sure that the cream and yoghurt are ice cold. Combine and pulse with a stick blender until the mixture thickens and forms soft points (it won’t be as stiff as regular cream but will definitely increase in volume).

Mash the raspberries with a fork and sweeten to taste with caster sugar. Decorate the cake with the yoghurt-and-cream mixture and place the raspberry pulp on top, or fold the raspberry pulp lightly through the whipped yoghurt and cream, and serve with the cake.

The yoghurt-andcream whip and raspberries also make a delicious Pavlova filling.