Grainy Devils Food Cake Frosting

Our answer

Nigella's Devil's Food Cake (from KITCHEN) has a rich chocolate frosting that is a type of ganache, a mixture of melted chocolate and some liquid. For the frosting the water, butter and sugar are melted and brought just to boiling point, then the pan is removed from the heat and the chopped chocolate is added and left to melt. Finally the mixture is whisked briefly to give a smooth frosting.

From the description we suspect that the liquid was slightly too hot when the chocolate was added. The liquids should just be bought to boiling point and then taken off the heat before adding the chocolate. If the mixture is still bubbling when the chocolate is added then it will be too hot and the chocolate will split and turn grainy. If you have a very heavy pan, such as a cast iron saucepan, then the pan can retain a lot of heat and you may need to let the liquid and pan cool slightly first. Alternatively put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and pour the hot liquid over, then let it stand for a minute before whisking. If the frosting has split it can sometimes be saved by whisking in a teaspoon or two of warm water, a little at a time.