Tried and tested: see how you can bake your own air fryer chocolate cake

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL PEPPERMINT CRISP CAKE

Hilary Biller: I've never baked a cake in the air fryer, so the combo of chocolate and Peppermint Crisp beckoned. Rich, dark and chocolatey, it's simple to put together and the air fryer makes a moist rendition of this winning combo.

My only niggle was having to bake each layer for about 30 minutes — costly on electricity when you could bake both layers in the oven at the same time. I didn't have self-raising flour, so used the same amount of standard cake flour, adding 7.5ml (1 ½ tsp) baking powder. Nor did I have the can of caramel, so I used some leftover cream cheese icing to finish off the cake, adding a sprinkling of Peppermint Crisp. Delicious.

Makes: 2 x 15cm round cakes

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Air-fryer temperature: 160°C

Cooking time: about 35 minutes per layer

Ingredients:

80g (240ml) cocoa powder

2ml bicarbonate of soda

4 large eggs

370g (420ml) brown sugar

180ml sunflower oil

200g (370ml) self-raising flour

360g can caramel treat

1 Peppermint Crisp chocolate bar, crushed

Method:

1. Put the cocoa powder into a bowl and add 200ml boiling water. Stir until smooth. Add the bicarbonate of soda and stir well. Set aside to cool.
2. Beat the eggs, sugar and oil together and then stir in the flour and the cocoa mixture.
3. Grease and baseline two 15cm round cake tins. Divide the batter equally between the tins. You can also use two 15cm x 20cm rectangular aluminium containers if you would like a tray bake, provided they fit into the air fryer.
4. Preheat the air fryer to 160°C. Place one tin into the basket and cook for 30-35 minutes. To test, a skewer inserted should come out clean.
5. Remove from the air fryer and cool on a baking rack. Cook the remaining batter and then cool.
6. Once the cakes are cool, trim the tops so they are flatter. Sandwich together with caramel. Top with the remaining caramel and sprinkle with crushed Peppermint Crisp. Store in an airtight container.

KAHLÚA CAKE

Thango Ntwasa: For the past two years my partner and I have been whipping up an assortment of treats inspired by our love for cooking, especially since the first dish I made included a chocolate mousse and crushed cookies with a sprig of mint to symbolise our blossoming future. To continue this, we have compiled our own cookbook and an air fryer cake seemed the perfect addition.

While the recipe is tasty, calling it a cake is an overstatement. It's really a brownie recipe. If you want to pinch pennies, I'd suggest substituting the Kahlua with any flavoured Amarula. Neither the alcohol nor sugar overpower the recipe and this is coming from someone who adds a little extra of everything as a way of putting the love into a dish. If you are worried about the cup of sugar, I've learnt that replacing it with brown sugar can work. You can also pull back on the butter or oil as the molasses in the sugar will make it just as moist.

Serves: 8

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Air fryer temperature: 160°C

Ingredients:

125g (135ml) butter

80g dark chocolate, chopped

210g (250ml) sugar

40ml Kahlúa or other coffee liqueur

120g (220ml) cake flour

35ml cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting

3ml baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Whipped cream or ice cream, to serve

Method:

1. Heat the butter in a small saucepan on the stove until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted. Add the sugar, 125ml boiling water and the liqueur and stir well.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together into a large bowl. Add the liquid ingredients and the egg. Fold together. Pour into a greased 15cm round tin.
3. Preheat the air fryer to 160°C. Place the cake tin into the basket of the air fryer and cook for 30 minutes. Open the air fryer and cover the tin with a piece of aluminium foil. Continue to cook for 15-20 minutes until set. A skewer inserted should come out clean when the cake is done, but the cake should not be overcooked. It has a similar texture to a chocolate brownie.
4. Remove from the air fryer and set aside to cool before removing from the tin. Dust with cocoa powder and serve.

Both recipes were previously published in the Sunday Times from The South African Air Fryer Cookbook 1 and The South African Air Fryer Cookbook 2.