frosting

Chocolate birthday cake

14 Comments / cake, chocolate /

It was Mr OC’s birthday.  Happy Birthday Mr OC.

This cake is a really good chocolate cake.  My friend’s husband made it for her birthday back in March.  I think it ranks as one of the best chocolate cakes that I have ever tasted, so I pinched the recipe.  The recipe comes from Dorling Kindersleys’ Children’s  Baking Book. I think this may now become my standard birthday cake.

175g (6oz) softened butter
175g (6oz) dark soft brown sugar
150g (5oz) self raising flour
25g (1oz) cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 eggs
100ml soured cream (or you can use double cream with a squeeze of lemon juice)

Method

Grease and line two 20cm sandwich tins.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Sieve over the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and add the eggs and soured cream and whisk again until well combined.  Divide between the two tins and spread the tops evenly.

Place in a preheated oven at 170°c, gas mark 3 or the baking oven of the Aga for 25-30 minutes until springy to the touch.  Leave to cool slightly, then turn out onto a wire rack and peel off the lining paper.  Allow to cool completely.

For the frosting:

175g (6oz) milk chocolate, or you could use white or plain depending on your preference
125g (4oz) butter
4 tbsp milk
200g (7oz) icing sugar

Method

Put the chocolate, butter and milk into a bowl set over a pan of simmering water until melted.  Take off the heat and sift the icing sugar over the top and whisk to combine.  Leave to cool slightly, then whisk again until the mixture forms soft peaks.

Use a quarter of the frosting on the bottom of one of the cakes and sandwich  the two cakes together.  Use the rest of the frosting to decorate the top and sides of the cake.  Then decorate to your heart’s content.  This is what happens when a three-year old is let loose.  I admire her restraint.

 

Chocolate birthday cake Read More »

Chocolate Viennese Sandwich Biscuits

14 Comments / biscuits, chocolate, The Ordinary Cook, vegetarian /

You could be genteel and call these Chocolate Viennese Sandwich Biscuits, or you could be my husband and ask me how I made the Bourbons.

Either way they are really good.  They manage to be very light and very chocolatey all at the same time.  Viennese biscuits are usually piped but I tried and failed on that score.  The mixture refused to come out of the piping bag.  I think the nozzle might have been too small, or the mixture too stiff, I couldn’t decide.  So plan B was put into action and teaspoonfuls were flattened by the tines of a fork.  Maybe not so beautiful but perfectly adequate.

I was feeling in need of an indulgent treat (to be fair it’s not often that I don’t feel the need for an indulgent treat) so I made a frosting to sandwich the biscuits together, but you could just make the biscuits and they would still be delicious.

They were a big hit with Mr OC and the girls and so will be regularly produced from now on, of that I have no doubt.

For the biscuits:

110g (4oz) butter
50g (2oz) icing sugar, sifted
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
25g (1oz) cocoa powder
110g (4oz) plain flour
25g (1oz) cornflour

Method
Cream the butter and the icing sugar together until fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat well.  Sift together the cocoa, plain flour and the cornflour over the mixture and mix well to form a dough.

If you can pipe it, then pipe it into pretty rosettes, or if you are like me, then drop teaspoonfuls onto a lightly greased baking sheet and flatten slightly with a fork.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180°c, gas mark 4 or on the middle of the Baking Oven of the Aga for 12-15 minutes.  Allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire tray to cool completely.

For the frosting:

50g (2oz) butter, softened
110g (4oz) icing sugar
25g (1oz) chocolate, melted

Method
Beat the  butter until smooth and then add the icing sugar and beat together well.  Add the melted chocolate and beat again until smooth and fluffy.

Use this frosting to sandwich two of the biscuits together for a proper indulgent treat.

Chocolate Viennese Sandwich Biscuits Read More »

Chocolate frosting

1 Comment / cake, chocolate /

This chocolate butter frosting was used to decorate the chocolate cake I made in the post above and it is really delicious and very rich.  It is taken from the feature about cupcakes by Peggy Porschen in the October 2009 Sainsbury’s Magazine.

It is important that the cream cheese and butter are both at room temperature, so try to remember to take them out of the fridge a few hours before you want to make the frosting.

50g cream cheese
25g unsalted butter
150g icing sugar
50g good quality dark chocolate ( at least 70% cocoa solids), chopped small or grated
50 ml single cream

Method

Beat the cream cheese and the butter together until well combined and then beat in the sieved icing sugar.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan to simmering point.  Place the chopped or grated chocolate into a bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate.  Stir gently until the chocolate has melted.  Leave to cool for a few minutes.

Add the chocolate mixture to the butter mixture and stir well to combine.  Leave it to cool until it’s a spreadable consistency and then using a palette knife spread over the top of your cake.

Serve the cake in big slices and enjoy every mouthful.

Chocolate frosting Read More »