The Ultimate Chocolate Layer Cake
The Ultimate Chocolate Layer Cake
We asked Food Stylist & Recipe Creator, Charlotte, owner of Dirty N Sweet for the recipe to her Ultimate Chocolate Layer Cake which featured in our Instagram giveaway last week. If your stash of Easter chocolate has left you defeated then this is a fun way to use it up…and will give you a chance to show off your cake decorating skills!
Over to Charlotte!
I don’t know about you, but I have a rather large amount of Easter chocolates leftover… if you’re the same, it’s time to check out my layer cake recipe below, get your hands dirty and create a sweet treat using your Easter eggs, bunnies, and delicious nibbles.
Ingredients:
For the chocolate sponge:
200g caster sugar
200g self-raising flour
200g butter
4 medium eggs
1 tsp baking soda
2-3 tbsp milk (classic, almond, or oat work well)
3 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 Easter egg smashed into small chocolate chunks
½ tsp Maldon sea salt
For the cocoa buttercream:
3tbsp cocoa powder
200-250g butter
400-450g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and line two 8 inch round tins or three 6 inch round tins with baking paper.
2. Simply place all cake ingredients into a large bowl and mix until creamy.
3. Divide your mixture between your tins (if you want to be super precise even weigh out the cake mix in each tin to ensure you have even cake layers).
4. Place your cake tins in the oven (middle of the oven on a wire rack) and bake for 20-25 minutes, or simply until a skewer/knife comes out clean!
5. Let your sponges cool completely (here is where your patience will be tested).
6. In a large bowl, mix your cocoa buttercream ingredients until smooth.
7. Once your sponges are cool, place them on a cake stand (a plate will work but a cake stand is easier to turn and decorate) and sandwich each of your layers together using ½ of your buttercream mix.
8. Smother the remaining buttercream around the cake to ensure it is covered and cover the top of the cake. Use a spatula to smooth out the buttercream until you are happy with the overall aesthetic.
9. Now, the fun part, time to use all of your left-over Easter chocolate to decorate the cake!
10. Feel free to follow your heart’s desires, decorate the sides of the cakes, the top, experiment with height, textures, and styles, but most importantly, have fun!
11. Please store in a cake box in the fridge for maximum freshness, and remember to let the cake adjust to room temperature before tucking in. Happy baking!
If you need some inspiration, check out my baked goods company’s Instagram page, @DirtyNSweet!
For her layer cake, Charlotte used our Fluffle of Bunnies, Milk Chocolate Honeycomb Crunch, Orangette Batons and Sea Salt Wafer Thins (you could also use our Dark Chocolate Dipped Orange Slices too!)
Photo credit: Charlotte Lindsay
[Recipe has been edited for clarity].