After completing the Inca Trail I returned to the delightful, if touristy, City of Cusco. Cusco is the former Andean capital and is viewed by many today as Peru’s historic centre. It is here, by visiting the many Incan (or more accurately Quechuan) museums and ruins that I acquired the bulk of my knowledge about Peru’s intriguing past. Of course it is impossible to look back at the colonial past without drawing conclusions about the conquering European nations. For example, the Inca Temple of Qorikancha was leveled and used as foundations for the Convent of Santo Domingo. While this is undoubtedly a deliberately devastating way to stamp authority on the indigenous culture, it does provide us with an interesting juxtaposition of architectural and cultural styles.
Another highlight of my time in Cusco was at the Chocolate Museum, where I roasted, shelled and ground my own cocoa. The subsequent paste was used to make both Inca and Gringo style hot chocolate. Food historians still debate whether the Inca people consumed chocolate in the same way the Aztecs, Mayans and Mixtecs did, but the modern Peruvian love affair with the stuff cannot be called into question. For them it is a valuable export and an ingredient that is used frequently in their fusion cuisine. The streets of Cusco, you see, are brimming with artisan bakeries, showcasing the best of both South American and continental patisserie. As I was feeling a little celebratory in Cusco I figured the delicious Torta de chocolate, with its pan-continental origins and dark chocolate hit, would best represent my time there. The recipe makes good use of store cupboard ingredients and contains fewer fresh ingredients that we would expect from our own recipes, but the use of oil makes the recipe exceptionally easy to make and delightfully moist.
Ingredients
480ml whole milk
2tbsp white vinegar
360g plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
120g good quality cocoa
180ml vegetable or rapeseed oil
3 eggs
560 g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate glaze:
1 tin condensed milk (397g)
1 tin evaporated milk (410g)
60g good quality cocoa
1tsp vanilla extract
1 knob of butter
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°.
2. Line a 26–28cm round cake tin with baking parchment and grease lightly.
3. Add the vinegar to the milk and set aside.
4. In a big bowl combine the flour, baking powder and cocoa.
5. Constantly stirring, add first the oil, then the milk, then the eggs and lastly the sugar and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly.
6. Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin. Make sure it’s no more than ¾ full as the cake will rise.
7. Bake for about 45-60 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean and the cake has withdrawn from the sides of the tin.
8. Allow to cool for ten minutes then turn out onto a wire rack until ready.
9. For the chocolate glaze, dissolve the cocoa in 3 tablespoons warm evaporated milk.
10. Put the sweetened condensed milk, the evaporated milk and the cocoa mix into a saucepan. Stirring the entire time cook at a rolling boil until the mixture thickens and gets creamy. This might take 10 to 15 minutes.
11. Add vanilla extract and butter. Remove from heat.
12. Split your cake in half with a bread knife.
13. Spread half of the glaze between the two cakes and half over the top, with a warmed palette knife.
Mastication / Destination 