Mummy Flowers’ Chocolate Overload Cake (Chocolate Birthday Barrel Cake)

 

This is a cake I made for my Father-in-laws birthday last year, it went down a treat! Its very rich though so you will only want a small slice; it will serve upwards of 8 people.

Ingredients:

• 4 medium eggs
• 250g sr flour
• 225g unsalted butter
• 225g granulated sugar
• 5 teaspoons cocoa powder

For the filling:

• 70g unsalted butter
• 180g icing sugar (sifted to remove lumps)
• 2 teaspoons cocoa powder

For the decorations:

• 3 packs of chocolate fingers
• 150g good quality chocolate for melting
• Brownie pieces
• Caramel filled barrels (or Ferrero Rochers, flakes, twirls…)

Method:

1. Start by making the cake – combine all the cake ingredients (butter and sugar first, then flour and egg a bit at a time), including the cocoa powder and then beat for a few minutes.
2. Grease two circular 8″ tins and split the mixture between the two. Bake for about 30 minutes on 180 degrees until a knife comes out clean when inserted.
3. When the cake is done, put both parts to one side to cool.
4. Once cool, sandwich the two together with the filling which you can make by firstly beating the butter on a very low speed for a few seconds and then adding the icing sugar and cocoa powder until the mixture is firm enough to stand in peaks.
5. Once sandwiched, you need to cover the sides of the cake only in  the filling as well – this is where you will stick your chocolate fingers.
6. Carefully stick your chocolate fingers around the sides one at a time. You could get creative here and add white and brown fingers or even chocolate sticks.
7. Once the fingers are on, melt the chocolate carefully over a homemade Bain Marie or in the microwave but be careful not to make the chocolate seize. It should be very fluid. Once melted, tip the chocolate onto the top of the cake to form the topping.
8. While chocolate topping is still setting add the brownie bites and chocolate barrels.
9. If you have one, finish by tying a ribbon around the cake; a gold one goes beautifully.

Voila!