Mother’s Day Rich Chocolate Cake

Mother’s Day Rich Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

A vanilla cake is versatile and pretty, but a rich chocolate cake makes you feel like there was just that much more effort expended in making it. For Mother’s Day, Lurpak, the butter Queens, invited me to share something delicious for my mum.  (Check out their Insta page for some recipe inspiration).

I’ve been really lucky that my mother is here, visiting me with me at the moment, and we enjoyed a test round of this gorgeous – and very easy to make – chocolate cake, inspired by the BBC. I’ve made complicated and laborious chocolate cakes in the past, and this one is so easy to whip up. It’s a version I return to. The key to a rich chocolate cake, the dense almost bitter-sweet kind, is to use the very best cacao powder you can find (Valrhona or similar) and to use melted butter, instead of oil.

All the mixing is done in a stand mixer (a dream, I know) and I slathered a fluffy raspberry buttercream icing between the layers. You don’t need much more – perhaps a handful of raspberries or figs on the top. Or, you can have a little fun – with chopped up honeycomb. Or, Crunchie chocolate bars, in this case.

Happy Mother’s Day to all our hard working, kind and supportive mums – we appreciate you!

chocolate cake for Mom

For the cake

(based on the BBC’s easy chocolate cake)

225 g cake flour, sifted (plus extra for dusting pans)

3oo g caster sugar

100 g cacao powder

1½ t baking powder

1½ t bicarb of soda

2 large organic eggs, whisked lightly

1 cup full cream milk

½ cup unsalted Lurpak butter, melted

1 t vanilla extract, or vanilla bean seeds, scraped.

1 cup water, freshly boiled

 Raspberry Buttercream Icing

250 g icing sugar

150 g unsalted butter, softened

pinch salt

10 raspberries, rinsed and patted dry

1 T water

source: http://italiandipity.tumblr.com/

To decorate

Handful raspberries, rinsed and patted dry

1 cup (2 bars) Crunchie chocolate, roughly chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Grease a 23 cm round cake tin, or two 20 cm sandwich tins with butter and dust well with flour. Shake out excess flour. The batter is runny so be careful if you choose to use springform pans instead of tins.
2. Place all the cake ingredients, save for the hot water, in the mixing bowl of an electric stand mixer. Beat on low-medium for 2-3 minutes or until well mixed. Don’t overbeat.
3. While the mixer is running, add the hot water a little at a time and mix well. The batter will be runny – that’s okay.
4. Pour equal amounts of the batter into the tins, if using two and bake in the oven on the middle shelf for 20-25 minutes. If you use a single cake tin, bake for 35- 40 minutes or until done. Test if the cake is ready by inserting a skewer into the centre, and if it comes out clean, it’s done.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tins.
6. While the cakes cool, prepare the icing by sifting the icing sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the butter and salt and mix on medium until pale – about 4 minutes. Switch off. You can also use a hand-held electric or manual whisk. Using a stick blender, blend raspberries and water until smooth. Turn on the mixer to low, and add the raspberry slush, a little at a time, to the icing mixture. When incorporated (you may need to stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the icing), set aside.
7. Once the cakes have cooled, run a flat, round-bladed knife along the inside of the tin and gently release the cakes. Give a firm tap if needed.  If using the single tin, you’ll need to use a wire cutter or knife to slice the cake in half lengthwise. You can slice a little of the domed top part of the cake to “flatten” it if you like.
8. Place bottom layer on a serving plate. Spread half the icing on this layer, top with the other cake layer and gently spread the remainder over the top.
9. Decorate with raspberries and chopped Crunchie bars

Disclaimer: This post was created in collaboration and partnership with Lurpak