Pinboard: Kim’s chocolate birthday cake

“What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.” Katherine Hepburn

Birthday Cake

In honour of Kim’s birthday (which was a couple of days ago), this week’s pinboard is about chocolate cake!!

Kim had his eye on one of those delicious looking Thornton’s chocolate cakes for his celebration tea. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but…I wanted to make him a birthday cake. It’s all part of the pleasure of being a mummy! Kim’s dad said that he thought Kim would be very disappointed if he couldn’t have a Thornton’s one, because that’s all he’d been talking about. So I asked Kim. He got very excited and said that he’d love me to bake him one. Then he proceeded to prescribe exactly what it should look and taste like. It had to be chocolate. It had to be sponge. It had to have chocolate icing. And, it had to have Thornton’s chocolates on top. In fact, Mummy, could you make me one of those Thorton’s cakes? Hmm, I smiled wanly. No novelty cake this year then: no Star Wars characters; no number 11 shaped cakes. But, who am I to complain? The child has taste – he loves chocolate and it was his birthday! So, this is what I came up with…

A chocolate layer cake

Layered with chocolate truffle and topped with Thornton's chocolates

But of course, I couldn't keep it completely grown up! He was only 11 after all.

Chocolate Truffle recipe

For the cake I made a standard Victoria sponge and sliced the two cakes in half to give four layers. I then filled the layers with a simple (but rich!) chocolate truffle:

• 125g/4oz of plain chocolate (broken into pieces)
• 300g/10oz of icing sugar
• 75g/3oz of butter
• 4 tbsp of double cream

1. Melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Cool slightly
2. Stir in the remaining ingredients until smooth.
3. Spread on the layers of cake with a metal palette knife.

That’s it! Simple eh?!

Chocolate Glaze recipe (used to ice the cake)

• 175g/6oz of plain chocolate (broken into pieces)
• 30g/1oz of butter
• 3 tbsp of double cream
• 2 tbsp of Golden Syrup

1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heavy based pan over a very low heat, stirring.
2. Remove from the heat when melted and beat in the cream and golden syrup.
3. Use while still warm. Spread over the cake using a metal palette knife dipped in hot water.
4. Position Thorton’s chocolates (or similar!) on the top before the glaze has fully set.

Stand back, admire, EAT!

Both the above recipes have been adapted/taken from my well thumbed copy of Cakes, 101 Essential Tips, 1997, London, Dorling Kindersley Ltd.

Don’t forget to check out the latest pinboard!