I’ve made this before, more successfully I have to say. Last time I switched the water icing for butter icing and although it’s therefore much fattier (!) I preferred it. It’s another Dan Lepard, using brazil nuts instead of walnuts which are more commonly used in a coffee cake. The special occasion was Lawrence’s dad’s birthday, so many birthdays around this time of year, so many cakes!

For some reason it crumbled more this time and yet retained the moisture – perhaps there was too much air in it. You certainly don’t need your morning coffee – it contains a lot of caffeine! Obviously whilst I’m breast feeding I’m only allowed one slice ;o)

Well, a year seems to have passed since Jo’s 30th, and the cakery that got this website started.

This one isn’t quite so big as last year’s birthday cake. It’s even missing the middle, thanks to the deployment of a ring tin. Might have been better in a bundt tin, but I ain’t got one. Will have to invest, maybe for your next birthday cake Jo.

This was basically the Marbled Chocolate Ring Cake recipe from Mary Berry’s Ultimate Cake Book, but replacing her nonsense margarine with butter. (Seriously Mary, you’re a star, but marg? We might be in a recession, but there’s no need for such WWII rationing-esque culinary barbarism.)

Her mix is a nice reliable all-in-one sponge, then divvied up, with cocoa added to one half. I also added vanilla essence and finely grated white choc to the white mix, and finely grated dark choc to the brown mix. Her icing is a nice simple 150g plain choc/1T water/100g butter mix, slowly melted then poured over. Her recipe then has milk choc melted and piped over the dark icing, but I used white choc. I was hoping to drizzle it, but white choc is hard to melt without it seizing, and I didn’t want to push it. It didn’t get runny enough to drizzle, so my haphazard piping skills came into play. Hence the slightly random white comedy decoration. Some sugared violets, a bit of grated milk choc (posh Earl Grey-flavoured stuff Fran got from a chocolaterie in Paris), then naff candles to finish. All quite jolly, if I do say so myself.

…I have managed to write a post since the birth of Ivy (only seven weeks ago mind you). This doesn’t mean I’ve not been baking, somehow between the madness I’ve managed a crumble, an apple cake and this White Chocolate Mud Cake for fellow cake-offer Dan on his birthday. I’ve never made a ganache before – dead simple, just hot cream poured over chocolate and stirred a bit. I always thought it was more complicated – just a posh sounding name i guess!

Anyway, this recipe was from a little Women’s Weekly booklet my sister gave me in Australia. It includes every possible chocolate cake there is (well, that might not be accurate). The cake was hideously delicious – only a small slice needed unless you’re Dan or I of course.

I will attempt to post the recipe at some point – right now i have a small window of opportunity! This is a similar recipe but not quite the same ingredients.