Bruce Bogtrotter's Chocolate Cake from Matilda

When I grow up

I will eat sweets every day

On the way to work and I

Will go to bed late every night

Tim Minchin, When I Grow Up, Matilda The Musical

Back in March, I went with two friends to see Matilda The Musical, and we had a blast.  Everything about this musical was witty and clever and funny, and I didn't need to be a child or to have read Roald Dahl's book to enjoy it.  The above lyrics are from my favourite song in the musical, When I Grow Up.  It is just so joyful and hopeful that everything will be OK when the children who sing it grow up.

One of the more memorable scenes in Matilda The Musical is where horrible Miss Trunchbull makes one of the students at Crunchem Hall, Bruce Bogtrotter, eat an entire enormous chocolate cake after Bruce steals a slice of it from Miss Trunchbull's tea tray.  Somehow, Bruce manages to make his way through the entire cake.

There is a recipe book called Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes which features a recipe for Bruce Bogtrotter's Chocolate Cake.  I don't have the book, but I found the recipe online here.

This cake involves a lot of eggs and a lot of chocolate, so it makes the risk factor high if something goes wrong.  I found it easy enough to make, although I will confess to leaving it in the oven for almost double the recommended time - there is wobbly in the centre and then there is plain undercooked, and at the 35 minute mark, my cake was still liquid in the centre.

The resulting cake is a deep, dark chocolate indulgence - the kind of cake where it is really hard to stop at just one slice as you sink your teeth into its moist, chocolatey heart.  I would make this cake again - if I dare!