This is the most recent birthday cake which I baked for our October Birthday Boy. It’s a chocolate and almond cake, the topping is just melted plain chocolate mixed with white chocolate. I hoped the effect would be sort of marbled but it didn’t quite work out like that, never mind, it tasted good.
Above is a very messy looking photo of the cake sliced, it has a chocolate buttercream filling. The cake is supposed to look like this, light in colour with the flecks of melted grated chocolate in it.
This is Gordon, the birthday boy just after blowing out his one candle, his beard is a new feature.
I can hardly believe it but there are a few people in my family who aren’t big cake fans, given the choice they would opt for something savoury instead, but this cake went down well with them because it isn’t too sweet. It’s a Delia Smith recipe.
Moist Chocolate and Almond Cake
Preheat your oven to gas mark 7 (425F) (220C) before turning it down to gas mark 3 when you put the cake in the oven.
4 oz (110g) butter
4oz (110g) unsweetened (or plain) chocolate, grated
6 oz (175g) caster/superfine sugar
6 tablespoons milk
4 size 1 egg yolks
4 size 1 egg whites
4 oz (110g) ground almonds
6 oz (175g) self-raising flour
Method:
Grease and line an 8 inch cake tin.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat the egg yolks together and add a bit at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, beating well after each addition. Next lightly fold in the ground almonds, grated chocolate and milk, using a large metal spoon.
Now whisk the egg whites together in a large bowl until they reach the soft peak stage. Carefully fold them into the rest of the mixture. Lastly add the flour, again folding it in carefully.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, level it off and place it into the centre of the oven at gas mark 3 (325 F) (170 C) and bake for about 1 hour or until the centre of the cake is springy when lightly touched.
Allow the cake to stand in the tin for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool.
Decorate to your own taste. I split the cake in half and filled it with chocolate buttercream, covered the sides with buttercream too, then covered the top with melted chocolate.
The cake looks yummy and very rich. I’m off baking til Thanksgiving, when I’ll do my pecan pumpkin bites.
And the birthday boy’s beard is quite tastefully kept.
Pearl,
Pecan pumpkin bites sound lovely. Gordon’s beard is a very tidy one, but according to his new Facebook photo it has disappeared!
Now I’m intrigued about your cake pans over there. You said you split the cake to put frosting inbetween, are your pans tall and you only use one then? We use two pans here that make short layers we then put together with filling. See I’ll need a year over there to learn everything! And the birthday boy is the spitting image of his dad!
Peggy Ann,
Some recipes do use two ‘sandwich’ tins, but this one was one deep tin. Sometimes my cakes develop sort of dome tops and that means that you have to level off the lower cake to sandwich them together so I prefer to use one deep cake tin. Gordon has always looked like Jack, even when he was teeny wee!
Looks yummy. I have an itch to bake again.
Jo,
The Bake Off always makes me want to get stuck into baking, unfortunately it has a nasty effect on my waistline.
Chocolate and almonds! This did look good–and what is it with these people who are not cake aficionados? Ken is one, I suppose, but I am a true cake person, though I don’t eat near enough of it. Actually, I think I’d be a bit healthier if I had a slice with tea at four pm, don’t you?
Judith
Judith,
I would definitely prescribe a good wedge of cake for you, maybe even to accompany every cup of tea! I’m sure it helps you keep warm in winter too, well that’s my excuse!
Stumbled on to this post and I just had to read it….because I’m hungry!
I wrote down the ‘method’ will make the cake for my own birthday and eat it all myself ( over the course of a few days!) Looks delicious!
nancy burns,
I hope you enjoy it. There are some great recipes on the BBC website, here’s the address just in case you haven’t visited it before. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/