Bahrain Dollar Stores & Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Looking at the sad state of this blog, one might be inclined to deduce that I either
a) have an incredibly boring life
or b) not a huge fan of the medium

Being a student of politics I'm inclined to say that neither is completely false, or true.
And that, it's well.... 'too complicated to discuss at this time, and that I'd be more than happy to return at some other juncture to discuss the matter with you in depth.'

So rectify this problem, I've vowed to try and put something up every weekday, and take photographs of (every) not so lovely creation that I make, in order for them to be mocked eternally.

To make things easier I've decided to go with Topic of The Day Posts (where I get to rant as much as I'd like - legitimately of course).

So today's topic of the day is: Dollar stores (or their equivalent)

Today I got taken by my Mum to the Bahraini equvalent of a Dollar store.
Oddly enough it wasn't even a-one-dinar-store.
Or the-one-dollarequivalent in dinars store
Just a cheap store filled with all sorts of goodies.

I had discovered the Dollar Store Crafts Blog the night before, and had a great time (at 2 am) looking through all the awesome stuff one can make (a hula hoop tent- awesome!)

So anyway we ended up going, and had a great time, but every time I end up leaving these places (even though I love them), somehow feeling used (more like deceived).
Not by the prices, but the fact that you always spend way more than you plan on going in.
So I made a pact with myself, and even though I barely made it out without the 'extras', my mum couldn't resist.
A battle for another day I guess.
Sigh
*
After our morning adventure, I decided I was craving some chocolate cake with raspberry sauce that I had once at a restaurant in Seattle. It was amazing, and I had been thinking about it ever since.

But since this is Bahrain, and not the hills of England, it's somewhat hard to get your hands on raspberries.
Correction: Cheap (or fresh) raspberries.

So the other day I had taken the plunge and gotten myself some raspberries just for this occasion!

And this is how it turned out! (the pictures don't really do it justice!)

I started off by searching through all the cookbooks at home (nothing! gasp*), and ended up at the Betty Crocker site, which I never knew existed!

So if anyone's interested, here's the recipe I used:
Cake

1	cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz)
1/2	cup butter or margarine
1/2	cup flour
4	eggs, separated
1/2	cup sugar
Sauce
1	box (10 oz) frozen raspberries, thawed, drained and juice reserved
1/4	cup sugar
2	tablespoons cornstarch
Glaze
1/2	cup semisweet chocolate chips
2	tablespoons butter or margarine
2	tablespoons light corn syrup 1. Heat oven to 325°F. Grease bottom and side of 8-inch springform pan or 9-inch round cake pan with shortening. In 2-quart heavy saucepan, melt 1 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cool 5 minutes. Stir in flour until smooth. Stir in egg yolks until well blended; set aside. 2. In large bowl, beat egg whites with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Beat in 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until soft peaks form. Using rubber spatula, fold chocolate mixture into egg whites. Spread in pan. 3. Bake springform pan 35 to 40 minutes, round cake pan 30 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (top will appear dry and cracked). Cool 10 minutes. Run knife along side of cake to loosen; remove side of springform pan. Place cooling rack upside down over cake; turn rack and cake over. Remove bottom of springform pan or round cake pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour. 4. Meanwhile, add enough water to reserved raspberry juice to measure 1 cup. In 1-quart saucepan, mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cornstarch. Stir in juice and thawed raspberries. Heat to boiling over medium heat. Boil and stir 1 minute. Place small strainer over small bowl. Pour mixture through strainer to remove seeds; discard seeds; set aside. 5. Place cake on serving plate. In 1-quart saucepan, heat glaze ingredients over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until chips are melted. Spread over top of cake, allowing some to drizzle down side. Serve cake with sauce. Garnish with fresh raspberries. And here are some pics of how my cake turned out: the cake raspberry goodness all glazed and ready posing for my friends en-route to 'ma belly' all done. And that was my day! Thanks again for listening, Lyla