Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe
This fabulous, comforting chocolate fudge cake with genuine chocolate fudge icing makes a wonderful birthday celebration cake. Use the Tala Star Tip Set to pipe swirls on top, then just add candles, sprinkles (if they make your heart sing) and serve to rapturous admiration.
Ingredients
For the cake:
350g self-raising flour
4 large free-range eggs
270ml sunflower oil
420g caster sugar
100g cocoa
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 ½ tsp salt
240ml milk (full fat or semi skimmed)
For the icing:
2 x 397g cans condensed milk
200g butter
400g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Equipment
2 x 25cm (10 inches) Tala Performance sandwich tin
2 x greaseproof paper circles, diameter 25cm (10inches)
heavy medium sized saucepan
Tala 3 star nozzles with icing bag
1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius, 338 degrees Fahrenheit (or 150 degrees Celsius, fan).
2. Place a greaseproof paper circle into the bottom of each cake tin.
3. Put the dry ingredients into the large mixing bowl and whisk briefly.
4. Crack the eggs into the smaller mixing bowl, add all the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth – just a for a minute.
5. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and mix briefly with the spatula until smooth.
6. Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for 30 minutes. Check the surface has risen and springs back to the touch. If it doesn't, bake for another 5 minutes, check again and repeat for another 5 minutes if necessary.
7. Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for five minutes before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
8. To make the icing, place butter and condensed milk in a saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted and the mixture is bubbling gently without catching.
9. Stir for a minute, then turn off the heat and wait for five minutes for the pan to cool slightly.
10. Add the chocolate, stir to combine, and leave to cool on the side for 45 minutes. At this stage the mixture will look grainy and glossy, but don't worry its appearance will change completely after cooling and mixing.
11. Place the mixture in the fridge for an hour, then mix briefly. The mixture will have thickened and will be approaching the right consistency for spreading and piping. If it is still too loose, return to the fridge and check on it every now and then.
12. Level the tops of both cakes with the cake levelling tool and turn one cake over so that the flat base is uppermost.
13. Place one of the cakes flat base side down on the cake board and secure it in place with a blob of icing.
14. Use the mini palette knife to spread the cake with icing. Then place the other cake on top (flat base uppermost) and spread more icing over the top and sides.
15. Choose a star tip nozzle from the icing bag set and drop it into the piping bag.
16. Transfer a few tablespoons of chocolate fudge icing into the piping bag, push down into the bag, twist the open end to close it and pipe a ring of swirls on top of the cake.
17. Keep covered at room temperature until ready to serve.
Tips:
• If you are pushed for time you can bake the cakes the day before and wrap in cling film until you decorate the next day.
• Chocolate fudge icing that has become too hard in the fridge can be softened by gently microwaving in 5 second bursts on 'medium'.
• Practice piping swirls on a plate until you are satisfied with your technique. Simply gather up your practice swirls, mix and drop back into the piping bag when you are ready to start piping for real.