Devil's Food Cake for Rosario

Last week was Rosario's birthday, and of course I had to bake her a cake.  The very sad part was that Rosario took the last working day before here birthday off work, so she was not there to enjoy her own cake.  But what can you do - the cake had a sponge-like texture and would have been no good by the next Monday.

For Rosario, I chose to bake Devil's Food Cake from p133 of Vintage Cakes by Jane Brocket.  It  is a beautiful book that I found through a recent visit to a bookstore, and I highly recommend it.

The cake consists of two layers of light chocolate sponge, coated in devilish fudgy chocolate icing.  I chose to decorate my cake with Ferrero Rocher:

The frosting is made before the cake so that it can thicken up sufficiently before being layered onto the cake.  To make the frosting, you will need:

1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons brown sugar
120g butter
315g chopped dark chocolate

Place the milk, butter and sugar into a saucepan and  stir over a gently heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.  Take the pan off the heat and add the chocolate, swirling the pan until the chocolate melts, then whisk it until smooth.  Allow the frosting to cool for about an hour before using it.

To make the cake, you will need:

120g butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 2/3 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup cooled black coffee mixed with 1/2 cup milk

Grease and line 2 x  8" cake tins, and preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius..

In a large stand mixer, beat together the sugar and butter until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, beating in one at a time.

Sift the dry ingredients together into a bowl.  Fold in half the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, followed by half the coffee-milk mixture.  Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients and liquid ingredients.

Divide the cake batter equally between the two cake tins, and bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through when tested.  Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for five minutes before unmoulding onto a wore rack to cool completely.

To frost the cake, place one layer upside down (so that the flat bottom is upwards) onto a cake plate, and spread one third of the frosting over that layer.  Place the other cake layer on top of it, flat side down, then spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cakes.  Decorate as desired, then serve and enjoy:

Series three of Downton Abbey started here tonight - I was so excited.  It was great to finally see Matthew and Lady Mary walk down the aisle.  I wasn't so sure about Lady Mary's dress though - I thought it was a little too dowdy.

Hope you had a great weekend.