Ultimate Chocolate Celebration Cake

This is a recipe I've inherited from my Gran, which she has adapted from a Mary Berry recipe. It's my 'go to' chocolate cake for birthdays or special occasions, it's often requested! The plain chocolate in the ganache means this cake is rich, but not overly sweet, it's a more grown up flavour; a very popular one!

Ultimate Chocolate Celebration Cake

This makes a big cake, but it’s perfect for birthdays or other celebrations; it’ll easily cut into 20 generous helpings.

Ingredients:

4oz cocoa powder
12tbsp boiling water
6 large eggs
4fl oz milk
12oz self raising flour
2tsp baking powder
8oz marg/butter
20oz caster sugar

500g plain chocolate, chopped (good quality)
500ml double cream
(6 tablespoons apricot jam – optional)
Variety of chocolate sprinkles to decorate (optional)

160oC fan oven/180oC other ovens

2 x 8x10in rectangular baking tins (at least 3in deep) greased and lined

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl make a paste using the cocoa powder and water; add the water gradually and beat well after each addition until the cocoa comes together into a thick, smooth paste that looks like melted chocolate.
2. Add the remaining cake ingredients and mix well – it’ll form a thick batter. Divide the batter equally between your two cake tins and make a slight indent in the middle of the batter so they’ll rise level.
3. Bake the cakes in the middle of a preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until the cakes are coming away from the edge of the tin and a sharp knife or knitting needle comes out clean when inserted into the middle of each cake. (Check on them halfway through baking it check they’re not getting too brown).
4. Once they’re cooked turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely; don’t be tempted to ice them too early or your icing will melt and ruin your cake.
5. Once the cakes are cooled you can make the ganache for filling and topping your cake. If you like apricot jam you can heat the jam in a pan over a low heat until it melts and then brush over each cake, it makes the ganache stick better, but I don’t like it so I don’t bother – it makes little difference.
6. To make the ganache put the cream and chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir constantly as it melts. Do not let the mixture boil.
7. Once all the chocolate has melted take the bowl off the heat and leave it to cool until it’s tepid, approx 10 minutes – then you can assemble the cake!
8. Begin by covering one cake in ganache, put onto a cake board/large plate, put the other cake on top and cover in ganache. Start in one corner and fill in the gap between the two cakes with ganache, as well as covering the sides of the cake at the same time. Use a flat bladed palette knife to smooth the ganache.
9. Once you’ve covered the whole cake cover the top with sprinkles if you're going to and leave it for at least two hours in a cool place to let the ganache set. The cake will keep for at least a week in an airtight container, it’s great served with cream for a real treat!

This really is a crowd pleaser, the ganache icing gives it a real wow factor, and you can have fun with extra decorations too!

Happy Baking,


The Baking Ginger xx

Lemon Drizzle Bundt Cake with Raspberries and Cream

Ripples from the Bundt Tin

Another variation on the theme of lemon and raspberry - it's a good one!

This was for my brother's birthday, it makes a good celebration cake because it looks as good as it tastes!

Bundt tins are a bit old school, but the cakes they make look really cute, and are perfect for filling with cream on special occasions, what's not to love??

If you haven't got a Bundt tin this would also work as a traybake, with the cream spread on top.

Lemon Drizzle Bundt Cake with Raspberries and Cream

Bundt Tin

Ingredients

Cake:
4oz self raising flour
4oz marg
4oz caster sugar
2 eggs
1tsp baking powder
1tbsp milk

Extras:
zest and juice of 3 lemons

Batters ready to go

3oz sugar
1tsp red/pink food colouring
150ml double cream
2tbsp icing sugar
150g raspberries plus extra to decorate

Bundt tin
170oC fan oven/180oC other ovens

Method

1. Put all the cake ingredients into a bowl and beat into a smooth batter. Add the lemon zest.

Marbling done!

2. Divide the batter equally between two bowls and add the food colouring to one - make it as bright a colour as you'd like, they fade when they're cooked so be bold!

3. Thoroughly grease the Bundt tin with marg (use kitchen roll to apply it, or your fingers) and fill with alternate spoonfuls of each batter to get the marbled pattern. You can also then drag a skewer or knife through your batter to make the marbling even more pronounced.

4. Bake in the centre of a hot oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden and coming away from the edge of the tin.

5. Leave to cool slightly before attempting to remove from the tin - tapping the bottom of the tin and gentle shaking are the best ways I've found to do this! Whilst it's cooling combine the juice from the lemons with the 3oz sugar in a small pan and heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Mid drizzle

6. Once your cake is out of the tin pour over the lemon juice and sugar - this is the drizzle part of the lemon drizzle. Leave the cake to cool completely. You can get to this point a day or so before you need the cake and keep it in an air tight container and then fill with cream just before serving.

7. When you're ready to eat the cake whip the cream to soft peaks, sieve in the icing sugar and smash up the raspberries before adding them too. Fill the centre of the cake with the cream and pile it high! Decorate with raspberries if you want to. (You can do this a couple of hours before eating - just keep it in a cool place afterwards)

Completed cake!

Like I said this cake is great for birthdays or celebrations but it'd make a really special dessert too, it's one of our new family favourites!

Happy Baking!

The Baking Ginger xx