Iced Chocolate Cake
In this chocolate cake recipe we use chocolate fudge icing in the middle and to cover the sponges. Decoration is up to you but we give you two very easy examples. The recipe for making the chocolate sponge can be found here.
And of course, CookUK illustrates this Chocolate Cake recipe with lots of step by step pictures.
200g / 7oz icing sugar
175g / 6oz soft butter
125g / 4oz dark cooking chocolate
Half teaspoon vanilla extract
PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutesBreak the chocolate into small pieces and melt it in a bowl. Either use the microwave on medium for three minutes or float the bowl in a pan of simmering hot water.
Melt chocolate in a bowl
In a bowl, mash the butter with a strong fork for a couple of minutes. This will make it a softer and creamier texture. Sieve the icing sugar over the butter and mix together well for a couple of minutes with a fork.
Mix butter and icing sugar
Add the melted chocolate and the vanilla to the mixture and mix in well with a fork. This should take around 3 minutes.
Add melted chocolate to icing
Spread a little bit less than half of the chocolate fudge mix on the base of one of the chocolate sponges. Put the base of the second chocolate sponge on top.
Using a knife (a palette knife as shown in the picture is ideal) spread the remainder of the chocolate fudge over the top and sides of the cake.
Apply chocolate icing to chocolate cake
To texture the top of the chocolate cake, take a wide knife (something similar to the palette knife in the previous picture is ideal) and draw it across the icing at a slight angle. Repeat this over the top of the cake.
Further decoration is only limited by your imagination and taste.
Iced Chocolate Cake
This one is so simple! Take a handful of walnuts or other nuts and arrange them over the centre of the cake.
Another attractive nutty alternative is to use almonds and sprinkle sieved icing sugar over them.
Nuts topping to Chocolate Cake
One final idea is to decorate with white chocolate scrapings. Take a large bar of white chocolate and with a sharp knife scrape of curls of chocolate from the smooth side of the bar. Hold the upright chocolate bar in your left hand and scrape down the flat side of the bar with the knife. Never scrape the knife towards you as recommended in many cook books.
Chocolate Cake topped with white chocolate