'Classic Tomato Spaghetti' and 'Mega Chocolate Fudge Cake'

I had so much fun cooking my first meal today. I chose a simple spaghetti dish to start off with, accompanied by a salad and a chocolate fudge cake for dessert.

Classic Tomato Spaghetti:
~Ingredients - 2 cloves of garlic, 1 fresh red chile, a small bunch of fresh basil, salt and black pepper, 1 pound dried spaghetti, olive oil, 1 x 14oz can of diced tomatoes, parmesan cheese

I started off by making the sauce first. First I cut the chile and 2 cloves of garlic into very small pieces. Cut the chile in half and remove the seeds, and then continue to cut it into smaller pieces. After doing that I picked a handful of basil leaves, picking off the stalks and putting them to the side (the stalks will be used for later). Jamie Oliver instructed to only use a handful of basil leaves, but I actually would suggest grabbing 2 handfuls, there was hardly any basil in my dish! Then I chopped the basil stalks into tiny pieces, and put them in a bowl with the chile and cloves of garlic. In a medium saucepan I threw in 2 big dollops of olive oil, the cloves of garlic, the chile, and the basil stalks. After the oil has started boiling and the garlic starts to brown, throw in the diced tomatoes and the basil. Then I just left it on a low heat until the spaghetti had finished boiling.

The spaghetti with the sauce turned out really well, and was enjoyed by all! It was scrumptious.

To accompany the pasta, I made a simple salad. I threw in cherry tomatoes, cucumber, salami, and just chopped iceberg lettuce with an olive oil and vinegar dressing.

Mega Chocolate Fudge Cake:
~Ingredients: 1 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips, 3/4 cup of butter (and extra to grease pan with), 2/3 cup of brown sugar, 2/3 cup of skinned almonds, 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, a pinch of salt, 4 large eggs, 1 1/3 cups self-rising flour, 1/4 pound of soft fudge, 10x10 baking pan

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. I started off by mixing the butter, almonds, 1 tablespoon of cocoa powered, and the salt. It said to mix in a food processor, but I found an electric whisk to be fine. Then one at a time add the eggs, and then the flour gradually, to stop it from spraying everywhere. Keep mixing until it is smooth. Then butter the baking pan sufficiently, you are told to use a 10x10 pan but a 10x8 pan works just fine. After spreading the butter, coat it with the other tablespoon of cocoa powder. Then spread the cake mix evenly throughout the pan. It then says to put pieces of fudge on top of the cake mix, but I was unable to find that. I improvised by using Smucker's hot fudge sauce, which worked out deliciously. I also used Gharadelli's chocolate chips and baking powder, which made it rich but made it perfectly tasty. I also served it with either vanilla icecream, whipping cream, or both! It was one of the best cakes I have ever made!