Chocolate mud cake with cinnamon ice cream and chocolate crunch

Method

• Chocolate mud cake
• Preheat oven to 180°C. Line the base of a 22 – 23 cm spring-form tin with non-stick baking paper and spray with non-stick baking spray or ramekins.
• Mix the lemon juice with the fresh milk and set aside for it to make the milk sour.
• Place the oil, chocolate and hot coffee in a microwave bowl or small saucepan and heat gently, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
• In a large bowl, mix the cake flour, baking soda powder, baking powder, sugar and cocoa.
• Mix the eggs and soured milk into the cooled chocolate mixture, combine thoroughly, and then whisk into the dry ingredients.
• Pour into the prepared tin or ramekins and bake for 1 hour. When tested, fudgy crumbs will still adhere to a skewer. This is the desirable sticky mud cake consistency. Cool for 15 minutes in the tin, then turn out and cool further on a wire rack.
• When cold, cut the cake in half using a serrated knife, or turn down the ramekins upside down, ice the centre and top with thick icing sugar.
• Cinnamon ice cream
• In a saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together the sugar and half-and-half.
• When the mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat, and whisk half of the mixture into the eggs. Whisk quickly so that the eggs do not scramble.
• Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan, and stir in the heavy cream. Continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside to cool.
• Pour cooled mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Chocolate crunch
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter a 20cm square tin and line with baking parchment.
• Stir the melted butter and vanilla together in a bowl. Mix the caster sugar, flour and cocoa together in another bowl.
• Pour the bowl of wet ingredients into the dry and beat together, then add the egg and beat again until combined. Press into the prepared tin. Brush the top with water and sprinkle over the granulated sugar.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes. Leave to cool slightly in the tin for 5 minutes before slicing into squares and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• On a plate place, the mud cake with crumbs of the chocolate crunch then scoop ice cream place on top of the crumbs and add some pieces of the chocolate crunch.