Baking with Nick Cave.

No, much as I'd like to say I have got the brooding, misanthropic Australian singer in my kitchen borrowing my festive snowman apron and whipping up some black-bottomed blondies, I'm talking about something far less thrilling. Having developed a bit of an obsession with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds recently, I've decided for the rest of Vegan Mofo, my Hump-Day baking posts will be directly inspired by the songs I'm listening to (over and over and over again) on Spotify.

Track of Choice: Red Right Hand


Synopsis: Something deceptively wicked this way comes!

Crust:
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 cup flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder


Ganache:
1 cup semisweet dark chocolate
1/4 cup soya cream
1 tsp vegan margarine
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp rum

Topping:
1 cup semisweet dark chocolate


Method:
Preheat oven to GM4/350oF/180oC . Grease and flour an 8x8" baking tin. Cream icing sugar and margarine together in a food processor until fluffy. Add flour and cocoa powder and blend until the dough just starts to come together. Dust your hands well with flour and dollop the sticky dough into the middle of your baking pan. Then use your hands to spread, press and tease the dough across the bottom of the pan. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.
In the meantime, to make the ganache, combine the chocolate, soya cream and margarine in a small saucepan over a low heat, stirring continuously until melted and well-combined. Remove from the heat and add rum and maple syrup. Pour over the baked crust before putting in the fridge until firm.
Finally, to make the topping, melt the chocolate in a double boiler and the pour and spread into a thin layer over the well-chilled ganache. Shake over chocolate sprinkles, shredded coconut or grated dark chocolate to finish and - dare I say it - chill-chill-chill again!
Yummy - but don't let the kids at it, this is strictly for adults!