Chocolate, glorious chocolate! Cake, brownies and kitkats!
Three helpings a day -
Our favourite diet!
My sweetie of a friend Bex loves chocolate, so naturally I made a chocolate cake for her birthday.
We have a long history of baking together and I often find myself turning around to see her ladling in extra quantities of cocoa or handfuls of chocolate chips!
So I decided to make a chocolate cake but I did not stop there...not only was this a very chocolatey chocolate cake, it was also filled with chocolate chunks and had deliciously creamy chocolate butter cream spread generously through the middle to ensure it was delightfully moist.
But I could not stop there...I made chocolate brownie pots (again filled with velvety melted chocolate chips) and following the garden theme decorations, I created a little fence from a family pack of double kitkats!
Needless to say - she loved it!
Three helpings a day -
Our favourite diet!
My sweetie of a friend Bex loves chocolate, so naturally I made a chocolate cake for her birthday.
We have a long history of baking together and I often find myself turning around to see her ladling in extra quantities of cocoa or handfuls of chocolate chips!
So I decided to make a chocolate cake but I did not stop there...not only was this a very chocolatey chocolate cake, it was also filled with chocolate chunks and had deliciously creamy chocolate butter cream spread generously through the middle to ensure it was delightfully moist.
But I could not stop there...I made chocolate brownie pots (again filled with velvety melted chocolate chips) and following the garden theme decorations, I created a little fence from a family pack of double kitkats!
Needless to say - she loved it!
Cake Recipe
115g / 4oz butter (by now you know I worship Stork for cake making)
115g / 4oz caster sugar
85g / 3oz self-raising flour
30g / 1oz cocoa (I strongly recommend Bournville here)
30g / 1oz cocoa (I strongly recommend Bournville here)
2 eggs (from chickens with life experience)
1 level tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Chocolate chips or a bashed up chocolate bar you didn't eat at christmas!
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Chocolate chips or a bashed up chocolate bar you didn't eat at christmas!
Method: Sponge
1. Beat butter and sugar together with wooden spoon.
2. Alternate cracking and stirring in an egg with sieving in the flour, cocoa and baking powder.
-> Add the vanilla essence for a little flavouring.
3. Line your tin with butter and baking parchment. (This quirky shaped one is from Lakeland and should NOT be put int he dishwasher - live and learn).
4. Bake in oven for 20 mins (ish) at 175C. You want a nice springy chocolate cake!
5. Cool on a cooling rack while you make the brownies and icing! When it is cool and your icing is ready you can cut it through the middle to put the icing inside (if it is not cool then your cake will go all crumbly on you so be patient and leave yourself plenty of time - a watched cake never cools).
Icing/ Filling Recipe
nob of butter
icing sugar
cocoa
good splash of milk
icing sugar
cocoa
good splash of milk
Method: Icing/ Filling
Mix the butter, cocoa and icing sugar together with a fork and use milk to make it smooth and spreadable. It wants to be a little runnier than what you make for fairy buns because cocoa can make it taste more dry and you want a nice moist chocolate cake. It will also be easier to spread if it is a little thinner.
Brownie Recipe and method
I actually used this chocolate brownie in a mug recipe and method: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/brownie_in_a_mug/
I threw in some chocolate chips and popped the mixture into the 4 pots and in the oven they went for 10 mins on 175c. Chocolate, glorious chocolate! Wouldn't change a thing. (Although I will in all likelihood make brownies for valentines next week and post a proper oven brownie recipe full of real melted chocolate then!)
I actually used this chocolate brownie in a mug recipe and method: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/brownie_in_a_mug/
I threw in some chocolate chips and popped the mixture into the 4 pots and in the oven they went for 10 mins on 175c. Chocolate, glorious chocolate! Wouldn't change a thing. (Although I will in all likelihood make brownies for valentines next week and post a proper oven brownie recipe full of real melted chocolate then!)
Decorating time!
I went for a garden theme to suit my little pots and cake shape. Roll out green icing between two sheets of cling film and cut it down by pressing the knife gently through the cling film. Peel off one side and then transfer to cake top and peel off the other piece, easy! Nothing is stuck to anything and you haven't smeared the lovely icing colour with white icing powder! (I got this idea from rolling pastry between cling film pieces).
You could make your own flowers but I was on a deadline and making this up as I went along so mine are shop bought. Just cut down your Kitkats and fix them to your board with a blog of left over butter icing! Yummy!
I went for a garden theme to suit my little pots and cake shape. Roll out green icing between two sheets of cling film and cut it down by pressing the knife gently through the cling film. Peel off one side and then transfer to cake top and peel off the other piece, easy! Nothing is stuck to anything and you haven't smeared the lovely icing colour with white icing powder! (I got this idea from rolling pastry between cling film pieces).
You could make your own flowers but I was on a deadline and making this up as I went along so mine are shop bought. Just cut down your Kitkats and fix them to your board with a blog of left over butter icing! Yummy!
Cake Love, Fayerie Faye x
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