Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate (plus a little coffee) Cheesecake

Its a miserable cold week in Feb. This the the antidote. It is chocolate on every layer, exactly what you need. It’s amazing – crunchy chocolate base, smooth chocolate middle, and runny chocolate topping. I added some coffee to the topping to cut through the chocolate just a little bit. 

Let's get this cake a cookin'

Now, I don’t know if I was just being stupid, but I originally tried to add melted chocolate to the cheesecake mixture to make it all chocolatey, but the mixture was so cold that the chocolate clumped and wouldn’t mix evenly at all. So, this is a second try with cocoa powder which works beautifully.

This does take a little bit of time to assemble in full but it is really worth it, and you can prepare it the night before and allow to chill in the fridge, so it’s a good party dessert!

The key to the amazing texture of this cake is cooking it in a water bath, which isn’t hard, just takes a little bit of preparation.

Caramel Chocolate Layer Cake

I've been saving this one for a little while now. I wanted to post it at the exact right time. And a bank holiday weekend coupled with it being my birthday weekend (yes, I'm taking the whole weekend) seems about right.

I know that I bang on about cake, but I really do love cake.

Cake is comfort. Cake is delicious. Cake is constant. You know where you’re at with a lovely slice of cake. Trends may come and go, but no one will ever be upset with being presented with a cake.

And it’s even better when it’s a four tier, ombre, chocolate caramel behemoth.

NEKKID - very trendy

Ain’t no one turning that down. There’s an entire tin of caramel in this. Don’t be scared.

One thing I love about cakes is that they are really easy to make look impressive. And this cake is absolutely kick-ass. Look at those layers! I am so proud of this. I want it for my birthday every year please. 

The inner amazingness even covers up for my somewhat questionable decoration skills. If in doubt, throw sprinkles EVERYWHERE. Solid tip right there.

Ingredients for the chocolate and vanilla cakes

• 215g butter
• 215g golden caster sugar
• 175g flour
• 85g ground almonds
• 2.5 tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 150ml natural yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla sugar
• 5 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp milk

Ingredients for the caramel and caramel chocolate cakes

• 215g very soft butter
• 100g light muscovado sugar
• 50g caster sugar
• 75g caramel
• 175g plain flour
• 85g ground almonds
• 2.5 tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 150ml natural yogurt
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• 1 tsp milk

And for the rest..

• 275g dark chocolate
• 200ml double cream
• 1 very generous heaped tbsp of caramel
• The rest of the tin of caramel, to sandwich

Method

Heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and prepare your cake tins by greasing and lining them.

For the vanilla and chocolate sponges, with an electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar, and then add in the flour, almonds, baking powder and eggs and mix again.  Stir through the yogurt and vanilla sugar.

Pour half into one of the tins and set aside. Add the cocoa to the bowl with the remaining batter and mix well. Add the milk until you have a smooth dropping consistency.

Bake for 20-25 mins. Remove onto a wire rack and allow to cool.

While that’s cooking, whip up the third and fourth layer (caramel and caramel chocolate). It’s basically the exact same method, but add the caramel in with the sugars at the beginning.

Cooked and cooling!

When the sponges are cool, make the ganache. Melt the chocolate and pour it over the cream and caramel. Mix until you have a smooth mixture, and set aside for a little while until it hardens very slightly and becomes easy to spread (approx. 15-30 minutes).

When the sponges are totally cooled, spread a thin layer of caramel over the vanilla (palest) sponge, then place the caramel sponge on top of that and cover it with a thin layer of yet more caramel. Put the caramel-chocolate sponge on top of that, then another layer of caramel and top with the chocolate sponge:

Spread the chocolate ganache over the whole cake to serve, as neatly as you can and throw whatever sprinkles you’ve got at it to cover the patchy bits.

 Slice and serve to grateful loved ones:

Chessboard Cake

OMG SO IMPRESSIVE.

Is what your friends will be saying about this kickass cake. Now, mine never turns out *quite* how it is supposed to, but c’est la vie. It is meant to be a well demarcated "chessboard" pattern inside when cut, but mine never looks like that. However, it looks cool and tastes amazing, I call it ‘lava lamp’ cake and everyone is happy.

..And it relatively simple to make, all you need is a couple of cake tins, some piping bags and the will to impress.

I had a teensy bit of cake batter left over which I would PERISH before throwing out, so I also piped a few cupcakes.

I would hope that this blog conveys the real way that I cook (ie: occasionally by the seat of my pants!). I don’t always have everything to hand, I improvise, there's flour everywhere, I photograph on auto and then I share and EAT.

The war/prep-zone

Orange cake with white chocolate ganache

This cake is an absolute delight. It had the great honour of being first cake I served and ate of 2014 (got stuck into it straight after a glass of bubbly to toast the new year!) and it definitely was deserving of this. My mum got me the Mary Berry Baking Bible for Christmas, and so far I have not been disappointed with anything. It feels like stealing your grandmothers’ best recipes.

Back to this cake: it’s so simple to make, it’s light and zesty, and the ganache just gives it a richness which is not overpowering due to the citrus flavour of the cake.

In short: you need this in your life (and mouth).