Classic Chocolate Cake with a Twist

Fancy a delicious chocolate cake this weekend to wow your guests?

This cake is decorated with chocolate buttercream. The central layer is an eggless chocolate cake filling which is seductively smooth and moist, sandwich between two vanilla layers. 

Follow my recipe for an heavenly treat....

Ingredients 

Vanilla Sponge

225g Caster Sugar

225g Soften Butter

225g Self Raising Flour

1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

4 Eggs

3 tbsp Milk

Eggless Chocolate Cake Filling

85g Butter

2 tbsp Golden Syrup

1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

300g Self Raising Flour

100g Caster Sugar

25g Cocoa Powder

1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

110g Butter, Softened 

170g Icing Sugar

55g Cocoa Powder

1-2 tbsp Milk

Recipe

Lets start with the Eggless Chocolate Filling Recipe:

1. Heat the Oven to 160/C Fan and Grease your cake tin.

2. Tip the butter, Syrup and vanilla into a heatproof jug, add 300ml boiling water and briefly whisk with a fork to combine. 

3. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl, then tip in the butter mixture. Stir until you have a smooth batter, then scrape into a prepared tin. 

Bake for 50 minutes. 

4. Cool in the tin for around 5 minutes before turning out and crumbling it up into another bowl.

Now lets make the Vanilla Sponge Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 180/C. 

2. Cream the butter and sugar together using a handheld whisk until pale, light and fluffy (around 2-3 minutes)

3. Gradually add the eggs, mixing well between each addition and occasionally scraping down the bowl with a spatula. 

4. Stir in the vanilla extract. Sift together the flour and baking powder and add to the cake mixture in two batches, mixing until smooth. 

5. Add the milk and mix until smooth. 

6. Pour into two greased and lined equally sized cake tins and bake for around 22 minutes until a skewer comes out clean from the middle. 

7. Once baked, allow to cool before assembling. 

Whilst the cakes are cooling you can prepare your buttercream icing with this recipe:

1. Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. 

2. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until smooth.

3. Add the remaining of the icing sugar, cocoa powder and one tablespoon of the milk until creamy. 

Assembling the cakes

1. Lay one of the vanilla sponge on your serving dish top side facing downwards. 

2. Push together the eggless cake to make a layer of chocolate cake filling. 

3. Add the other vanilla cake on the top, this time top side facing upwards, and squish down so everything is compact. 

Decoration

1. Place the chocolate buttercream into a piping bag and start on the top centre of the cake. Start making a circle then follow it around the outside until you fill the entire top cake.

2. Using a palette knife cover the sides of the cake with the chocolate buttercream and then scrape round with a edged decorating tool, you can buy one of these on amazon. 

3. Decorate with edible white snowflakes and fresh strawberries. 

This is a stunning cake that will be appreciated and demolished! 

xxx

Vanilla and Chocolate Cake

This cake is sooo tasty you have to try it, I promise you will not be disappointed. 

Ingredients

Vanilla Sponge (bottom layer) ( inch cake tin)

<Bake this cake first as it take longer to cook>

450g Soft butter

450g Caster sugar

450g Self-raising flour

8 Eggs

6 tbsp Milk

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Chocolate sponge (top layer) ( inch cake tin)

225g Soft butter

225g Caster sugar

450g Self-raising flour

4 Eggs

3 tbsp Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

Vanilla Buttercream Icing

600ml Double Cream

300g Icing Sugar

3 tsp Vanilla Extract

Recipe

1. Heat oven to 180C/fan assisted oven160C.  

2. Grease the cake tins and line the bottom with a circle of greaseproof paper. If you want to make life easy, simply put all the ingredients into a food processor and whizz for 1-2 mins until smooth. 

3. If you prefer to mix by hand, beat the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Fold through the flour, milk and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth. Add Cocoa Powder at the end for the chocolate sponge.

4. Tap the bottom on your work surface to ensure that there aren't any air bubbles.

5. Bake the Vanilla cake for 60 minutes, reduce heat after 25 minutes to 130C

6. Bake the Chocolate cake for 30 minutes at 160C.

7. Once ready, allow to cool before assembling. 

Icing

1. Pour the double cream into a bowl and whisk with an electric whisk until thick.

2. Whisk in the icing sugar until the mixture is stiff.

3. Stir in the vanilla extract

Assembling cakes & Decoration

1. Place the Vanilla cake onto a serving plate and cut of the top of the cake so it is flat. ( I eat this part whilst decorating the cake, simply irresistible ;) )

2. Get your icing and place it into a piping bag and pipe on around the top of the vanilla cake then fill the centre. 

3. Place the Chocolate cake on top. 

4. Pipe swirls and roses or any design onto the rest of the cake and decorate with macarons and fresh fruit. 

A cake to make an impression... DONE!

xx

Vanilla Macarons

Macarons.. A classic french delight. Apparently they are most challenging dessert to make and so I thought it was about time to give them a try. I researched many different recipes for the Macarons and eventually I combined a few recipes and tips to come up with the perfect recipe. So.. Let see how they are done...

Essential Tips for a Successful Macaron 

1.  Make sure you run through all the ingredients with a sieve so that everything is finely ground and powdery as possible which will give you that smooth macaron and make them really light. 

2. After you have sieved the ingredients you will be left with whole pieces of almonds that didnt make it through the sieve. These you want to discard.

3. Make sure your egg whits are at room temperature as this is critical to make a stiff egg white. ( You can create a room temperature egg by submerging them into a jug of warm water, leave for 5 minutes and you will have room temperature eggs )

4. Mixing stage: If you over mix you will end up with a macaron that is flat without the little ridges around the bottom and that is the mark of a true macaron. If you undermix, then you will be left with a macaron that will crack on the top.

5. Bang the trays on your kitchen top to pop the air bubbles in the macaroons. Bang a couple times and then turn the tray around and bang another couple times.

6. Leave to rest for 20-30 minutes before placing into the oven. 

Ingredients

4 Large Egg Whites or (5 small) (140g)

70g Caster Sugar

230g Icing Sugar

120g Ground Almonds

Tiny Pinch of Salt

250ml Double Cream 

2tsp Vanilla Extract

250g Icing Sugar

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees (130 in a fan assisted oven)

2. Place the egg whites into a a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until they begin to turn white and fluffy and then slowly add the caster sugar. Mix until they are stiff enough to turn the bowl upside down without it falling out.

3. Sift the ground almonds and icing sugar and salt TWICE. Discarding any almond lumps that are too big to pass through the sieve. 

4. Fold the sieved mixture into the egg white mixture using the spatula. To fold the mixture correctly make the figure 8 with the spatula until all the ingredients have been incorporated. The mixture should be smooth and very viscous, not running. 

5. Pipe onto trays lined with baking paper.

6. Bang the trays on the kitchen top firmly to make sure that any air bubbles into the mixture will pop preventing cracking. 

7. Leave them to then rest for 25 minutes.

8. Bake for 30 minutes ( check that one comes off cleanly, if not then bake for a little longer).

Whilst they are baking you can make the filling:

I made up my own vanilla filling, here how it is done. 

1. Pour the double cream into a bowl and whisk until thick, then add the icing sugar and whisk again until very thick and creamy. Add the vanilla and mix by hand. Place the contents into a piping bag and thats ready to go.

Bon Appetit 

xx