I assume everyone watched last week’s chocolate cake
spectacular episode of The Great British Bake Off- now I could lie and say that
this was inspired by it, but it just wasn’t. How good was bread week though on
that note? Everyone in my family’s already a bit bread batty. I am definitely
making English muffins soon.
I made this cake for my friend’s birthday because she loves
chocolate, but also because I wanted to make her a cake that felt a bit ‘classy’.
Hence the inspiration and ganache. Basically I wanted the cake to look like a
bottle of Jean Paul Gaultier perfume. It sort of just looks like a cake with
boobs on but oh well.
Ingredients
Cake
6 ½ oz butter
11oz caster sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ oz cocoa
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/3 cup water
2 apples, peeled and chopped
10oz self-raising flour
Ganache and decoration
180g Bourneville chocolate
180ml double cream
4tbsp cherry jam
Chocolate Betty Crocker Icing
Edible silver spray and balls
Preheat the oven to 180⁰C and prepare a traybake tin with
parchment. This cake recipe works best in a food processor because it helps to
finely chop the apples. If you don’t have one just do it by hand and make sure
to cut the apples as small as you can.
Pour into the tin and bake for 50 minute to 1 hour or until
cooked all the way through. Cool on a wire rack.
When the cake has cooled draw a rough shape of what you want
onto a piece of baking parchment, then cut around it, saving the offcuts.
Crumble the offcuts up into a bowl and then mix with some of
the chocolate Betty Crocker to form a cake-pop-esque texture.
Pop a bit of icing where you want to stick them to help
adhere, then gently press the boobs down onto the main cake.
Next heat the jam up in the microwave until it’s melted, and
then gently brush evenly all over the cake. This gives the ganache a surface to
stick to.
To make the ganache put the cream and chocolate into a bowl
over a pan of hot (not simmering) water and stir occasionally until it’s smooth
and glossy. Leave the ganache for a few minutes to cool and thicken very
slightly.
Pour it all over the cake, making sure to reach all the
nooks and crannies of the cake. Leave this to set for a little while.