Exeter’s Exploding Bakery is feted for its bakes, but it’s no accident they’re so good. Founder Oliver Coysh tells Rosanna Rothery about his trip to source the high-grade cocoa used in the Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Cake
Imagine a chocolate cake so deeply enticing and delicious that you find yourself tripping along to the fridge several times a day for another cheeky little spoonful – all in the interest of professional research, of course. That’s how Oliver Coysh, owner of Exploding Bakery in Exeter, found himself engaging with the early prototypes of his Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Cake.
Before a cake gets upscaled for commercial production, the team at Exploding Bakery make several versions to identify the ultimate recipe.
‘The trouble was we had about 12 versions and I would end up taking them home and to parties,’ says Oliver.
‘There’s something so very unctuous about chocolate fudge cake: the texture and flavour are very addictive. In fact, I developed a bit of an issue with it, where I would be standing up and spooning it out of the box, straight from the fridge.’
Oliver realised this compulsive behaviour was actually a sign the Exploding Bakery was on to something special. He was right; the stonkingly good cake has become one of the bakery’s bestsellers.
Advent of an obsession
Oliver’s love affair with chocolate is rooted in nostalgia, and he recalls the giddy childhood anticipation and daily thrill of opening a window on the advent calendar to devour the cheap chocolate inside.
‘I’m still obsessed with advent calendars and that sickly sweet hit of chocolate on a fuzzy morning tongue,’ he laughs.
Those 25 grainy chocs scoffed in the countdown to Christmas Day turned out to be a gateway drug and he’s since moved on to the hard stuff, upgrading to 70 per cent single-origin chocolate.
Fancy or cheap?
Even when it comes to crafting Exploding Bakery’s iconic brownies, Oliver steers clear of using low-grade chocolate.
‘It could be viewed as a waste to use really high-quality chocolate in baking, but a lot of Michelin-starred restaurants in France use Valrhona,’ he says.‘In the UK they often use Pump Street Chocolate.
‘Chocolate connoisseurs, familiar with the subtleties of flavours in chocolate, are able to pick up on them and can tell if a brownie or pain au chocolat has been made with, say, Valrhona.’
For his own bakes, Oliver opts for Luker Chocolate. The Colombian family-owned chocolate producer has over a hundred years of experience of crafting top-notch chocolate at origin.
‘A high-acid flavour can be jarring in sweet bakes, but Luker Chocolate has a delicious nutty flavour,’ Oliver says. ‘We use it in the Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Cake and it bounces off the ground almonds while giving an overall rounded flavour.’
We managed to swipe Exploding Bakery’s chocolate fudge cake recipe – give it a whirl here.
