Cake thirty Choco Dream

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It’s undoubtedly a cake for chocolate lovers. Although it’s hard to believe, there are some who don’t like chocolate! I do respect their opinion and in a way I kind of envy them, in fact they don’t have to resist the temptation to eat it, they don’t have to bear negative consequences, such as spots on your face or tummy troubles, but on the other side I feel sorry as they lose a whole world of flavours and delicious treats!

It’s not a difficult cake to make but you need time and it’s better if you start baking the cakes a day ahead, so that they’re cold when you need to pile them up and cover with chocolate frosting.

Don’t let the quantity of butter, sugar and chocolate scare you, the result is superb!

I personally like it as a square cake, but any shape is fine....

Dark Chocolate Mud Cake

150 g dark chocolate

250 g butter, chopped

440 g sugar

250 ml milk

225 g flour

75 g self-raising flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Combine butter, chocolate, sugar and milk in a saucpean. Stir over heat, without boiling, until smooth. Cool 15 minutes. Add flours and eggs. Mix well. 

Line bases and sides of a deep 20cm-square cake pan with baking paper.. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 150° for about 50 minutes. Cool cake.

White Chocolate Mud Cake

150 g white chocolate

250 g butter, chopped

440 g sugar

250 ml milk

225 g flour

75 g self-raising flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Follow the same procedure as Dark Chocolate Mud Cake

Chocolate mixture

300 g milk chocolate, chopped coarsely

300 g dark chocolate, chopped coarsely

250 ml cream 

Combine milk chocolate and cream in a saucepan, stirring over low heat until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until mixture is of spreadable consistency. 

White chocolate mixture

300 g milk chocolate, chopped coarsely

125 ml cream

Follow the same procedure as Milk chocolate mixture

Assemblage and Decoration

White sanding sugar 

Split the two cakes in 

half.

Put one cake on serving plate, starting with a white one.

Spread with chocolate mixture. 

Repeat with second layer, a dark cake this time, and half of the white chocolate mixture.

Continue with third layer, a white cake now, and spread with chocolate mixture.
Top with remaining dark cake layer and spread with white chocolate mixture.Refrigerate until chocolate mixtures are firm. Then cover top layer and sides with remaining chocolate mixture.Decorate with white sanding sugar and refrigerate until icing is firm.

also visit:
http://time-for-a-cake.blogspot.it/2013/10/cake-thirty.html

Cake twenty-eight Lilac Chic

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There’s something in the tiered cakes which attracts me a lot. It’s like a personal challenge, the kind of ‘Will I be able to make it?’, in other words a chance to test my skills. Sure, but not only! There’s also some unconscious reason which takes me back to a happy memory from my childhood: a photo of one of my first birthdays, me with my parents and a two-tiered birthday cake decorated in white with some silver pearls my mum had made for me.. 

Although decoration is very important as it’s what we see first, the choice of the cake is nonetheless relevant since it’s what we actually eat.

When making a tiered cake you should always choose a solid cake which can stand the weight of the other cakes you put on top. 

For this cake we chose three different cakes which all have, anyway, a common ingredient - chocolate. (My younger daughter loves it...)

Phase 1: Recipes

Dark Chocolate Mud Cake

250 g butter, chopped

150  g dark chocolate, chopped

440 g sugar

250 ml milk 

225g flour

75 g self-raising flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten 

2 tbs cocoa powder

150 g fresh raspberries

Put butter, chocolate, sugar and milk in medium saucepan, stir over heat without boiling, until smooth. Cool 15 minutes. Add flours, eggs and raspberries.  

Line base and sides of a 30cm-round cake pan with baking paper. Pour mixture into pan. Bake at 150° for 50 minutes. Cool cake.

White Chocolate Mud Cake

250 g butter, chopped

150  g white chocolate, chopped

440 g sugar

250 ml milk 

225g flour

75 g self-raising flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten 

2 tbs cocoa powder

150 g fresh blackberries or 150 g choco drops

Same procedure as Dark Chocolate Mud Cake.

Bake two cakes: one in a 30cm round cake pan - use blackberries; the second one in a 24cm round cake pan - use chocolate drops.

Chocolate icing

200 g chocolate, chopped

200 g icing sugar

1 egg

Melt chocolate in small saucepan over boiling water. Cool. Add egg and icing sugar. Stir until smooth.

Chocolate Butterscotch Cake

25 g cocoa powder

250 g butter

200 g brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tbs golden syrup

185 g self-raising flour

125 ml milk

Beat cocoa, butter, brown sugar, eggs, golden syrup, flour and milk with electric mixer until combined.

Line base and sides of a 18 cm-round cake pan with baking paper. Pour mixture into pan. Bake at 180° for about 1 hour. Cool cake.

Mascarpone Cream

250 g mascarpone cheese

300ml thickened cream

Mix mascarpone and cream until soft peaks form.

Caramel Icing

60g butter

100g brown sugar

60ml milk 

240g icing sugar

Heat butter, brown sugar and milk in small saucepan, stirring constantly, without boiling, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Add icing sugar and stir until smooth.

Phase 2: Tiers

Here’s a sketch of the cake showing details of each tier.

1. Chocolate Butterscotch Cake

2. White Chocolate Mud Cake (with raspberries)

3. White Chocolate Mud Cake (with choco drops)

4. White Chocolate Mud Cake (with raspberries)

5. Dark Chocolate Mud Cake (with blackberries)

A. Mascarpone & Caramel Icing

B. Choco Icing

Phase 3: Decoration

purple and peach food colour

600/700 g ready-made white fondant

some corn starch

Assemble and decorate each tier separately. 

Bottom tier

Take the Dark Chocolate Mud Cake and place it onto serving plate.  Spread with chocolate icing.

Take the 30cm round White Chocolate Cake and split into two layers. Put one layer on top of cake and leave second layer aside for middle tier.

Dust a large nonstick mat lightly with corn starch and knead fondant until smooth and pliable.

Roll fondant out in the approximate shape of the cake. Roll fondant up around rolling pin and then place it onto the cake. You can cut out the centre of the circle if you don't have enough fondant.

Add some purple and peach food colour to some white fondant and knead until you have the colour you like. Roll it out and cut about 30 2cm wide circles. 

Decorate cake with some of the circles using some mascarpone cream to help them stick to the cake.

Middle tier

Cut the second 30cm round White Chocolate Cake layer the same size as the 24cm round White Chocolate Cake. 

Place one 24cm round cake on a plate, spread with chocolate icing and put second cake on top.

Colour some fondant the same shade as the spots and follow same procedure as per cake from bottom tier.

Top tier

Split Chocolate Butterscotch Cake into three layers. Put one layer on a plate, spread with some mascarpone cream and some caramel icing. Repeat with second and third layer. Cover cake with white fondant and purple spots.

Phase 4: Assembling the cake 

Once all cakes are ready assemble the cake and carefully put one tier on top of the other.

also visit:
http://time-for-a-cake.blogspot.it/2013/07/cake-twenty-eight.html