Tea Time: Chocolate Indulgence

I have been eyeing up those awesome cakes completely encased in chocolate fingers for a little while, so when it was a friend’s birthday the other week I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a go at one myself!

I found one recipe on www.goodtoknow.co.uk but it used Nutella, which I can’t eat, so I replaced this with a fairly simple chocolate buttercream icing (I got mine from this recipe on the BBC site). Here is the recipe I followed…

INGREDIENTS
Cake:
200g butter
200g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
150g self-raising flour
50g cocoa powder
½tsp baking powder

Chocolate Buttercream Icing:
250g/9oz butter, softened
500g/1lb 2oz icing sugar
100g/3½oz good dark chocolate (at least 70 per cent cocoa solids), melted and slightly cooled

Decorations:
Milk chocolate fingers (about 3 packs)
An assortment of topping chocolates, I used chocolate M&Ms, Malteasers and Galaxy caramel bites

THE HOW TO!
Preheat oven 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line 2x 21cm/9inch cake tins with greaseproof paper.

Use the all-in-one method to make your sponge; pour all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and whisk with an electric hand whisk until combined. Once combined, pour into the cake tins making sure you they’re as even as possible. Bake in the oven for 20-25 mins until springy to touch. (Note: keep an eye on them if using a fan assisted oven)

Meanwhile, make the buttercream: put the butter and icing sugar in a bowl and whisk together until the mixture goes fluffy. Add the cooled, melted chocolate and whisk for a further two minutes.

Once the cakes are baked, turn them out onto a wire rack and leave to cool a little. Spread your chocolate buttercream over the base cake and sandwich the two cakes together. Put the cake onto a serving plate.
Spread the rest of the chocolate buttercream over the top and sides of the cake using a spatula to smooth it over. Wipe any excess buttercream off the plate with a warm wet cloth turning the plate as you go.

Now you just need to decorate. Begin by sticking the chocolate fingers around the outside, pressing firmly in the middle of each chocolate finger so it sticks properly. The trick is to let the bottom of the chocolate finger rest on the plate and the middle to stick to the cake. Lastly scatter the chosen topping sweets over the top of the cake and pile them up until you’re happy.

 

One word of warning – DO NOT store the cake in a fridge for long periods of time, otherwise you will find that the buttercream has set a little too hard! (Must remember this next time I make it!)

Mrs M x