...as I mentioned in the previous post about my Lemon Drizzle Herman, I am determined to be a bit adventurous with my Herman Friendship Cakes...I have to date tried 4 flavours...my favourites being the original and the Lemon Drizzle...but this one comes a close second...It is my take on this one...
My Strawberry and Dark Chocolate Herman (or Alfredo as Em would say!)
I was after that chocolate dipped strawberry taste...rather than the sweet strawberry and white chocolate that you find as muffins in many coffee shops...I wanted a more sophisticated version...
The first thing to decide upon was tins to bake in, I had seen loaf tins used, but have always had a bit of bad luck when it comes to baking in loaf tins...so I decided to use the same large tin that I used for the original, and split it as if making a battenburg!! All it took was some crafty scissor work and a piece of baking parchment...
...the shape looked like this...and...
...fitted really well as a divider...
...Herman/Alfredo ready to go!!
...my measuring cups, are indispensable in the kitchen at the moment...have decided the US way of baking measurements is actually rather cool and simple to use...These were from Sainsburys and include a 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and 1 cup measure... 
...I used the original recipe, but just split the basics into 2 bowls...so in each bowl I had 1 cup plain flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup oil, 1/2 portion Herman, 1/2tsp baking powder, 1/2tsp salt, 1tsp vanilla, 1 1/2 eggs (I just whisked 3 eggs in a jug, looked at the volume and halved)...
...then I added the flavourings...in this case a cup and 1/2 chopped fresh strawberries, I cut them into 1/2s or 1/4s depending on their size, but I didn't want them to be too small...and a cup of dark chocolate that I had chopped, again, not too small, I wanted the chunks to keep their shape and not melt away to nothing during the cooking...
...after 40 mins the sponge had risen, and was looking good...I was a bit worried that the fresh fruit may have made the cake too wet and that it wouldn't bake as quickly as the Lemon Drizzle Herman I was making at the same time, but it was fine...
...they were left to cool completely on the tin...
...and when cut, the strawberries and chocolate were both on the bottom of the cake, and the strawberries were in fact pretty wet, but the taste was great!!! The contrast of the sweet berries and bitter chocolate was just like eating chocolate dipped strawberries...this one was also popular, but not as popular as the lemon one!!
Mmm... looks absolutely delicious. Great combination of flavours.
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