Vanilla and Double Chocolate Chess Cake

Originally from 'The Great British Bake Off: How to turn everyday bakes into showstoppers' by Linda Collister, this cake is a great twist to the marble cake. Originally three layers, I compressed it down to two, and it was still quite tall. It is essential though, that you have two relatively large piping bags with 1.5cm tubes, otherwise you will not get the chessboard effect.

Ingredients

The Sponge

233g Butter,Softened

233g Caster Sugar

233g Self-Raising Flour

40ml Milk

                             33g Cocoa Powder

4 Large Eggs, Beaten

2/3 tsp Vanilla Extract

Pinch of Salt

White Chocolate Ganache

87g White Chocolate, finely chopped

63ml Whipping Cream

25g Unsalted Butter

Dark Chocolate Ganache

150g Dark Chocolate (70% Cocoa Solids), finely chopped

150ml Whipping Cream

To Finish

A slab of white chocolate (not much will be used)

8 Boozy Chocolate Truffles (click link for recipe)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. Grease 2 x 20.5 sandwich tins, and line the bases with baking paper. Put the butter into a large mixing bowl, and beat with a free standing mixer until very creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar, then the vanilla. Keep beating (scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time) until the mixture is very pale and fluffy in texture.

2. Gradually add the eggs, a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1 tablespoon of the flour with each of the last 2 portions of egg to prevent curdling.

3. Sift the remaining flour and the salt into the bowl, and gently fold in using a large metal spoon until thoroughly combined. Transfer half of the mixture into another large bowl.

4. Sift the cocoa into one bowl, and add half of the milk; fold in until completely blended. Fold the rest of the milk into the second bowl of mix. Fit two piping bags with 1.5cm plain tubes, and place each in two large glasses, folding the top of the piping bags over the rim of the glasses.

5. Fill the piping bags 2/3 of the way up, one with the vanilla mix, and one with the chocolate mix. Take one sandwich tin, and pipe a chocolate ring around the inside edge. Then pipe a vanilla ring inside the chocolate ring. Repeat with alternate piping bags until the tin is filled. In the next tin, start with the vanilla mix on the inside edge, and again, alternate piping bags until the tin is full. Make sure all of the rings are even the whole way round before baking.

6. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until browned/ a skewer will come out clean. Run a knife around the inside of each tin, and turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely before icing.

7. For either/both ganaches, put the chocolate (and butter for the white chocolate ganache)into a heatproof bowl. Heat up the corresponding quantity of cream until right before it starts boiling, and pour over the chocolate. Slowly stir with a spoon until all the chocolate has melted, and leave in the fridge to set.

8. Once the ganaches have become much thicker, but still spreadable and glossy, take them out of the fridge and evenly spread one cake, browned side uppermost, with the white chocolate ganache, and place the other cake on top. Wipe away any trickling ganache. Next, cover the top and sides of the cake with the dark chocolate ganache, scooping away any excess. If the ganache has set too much that you cant spread it properly, hold a palette knife under hot water, dry, and then use to spread the ganache. Leave to set.

9. Take the block of white chocolate, and scrape a large knife across it, to create a bunch curls or shavings. Then take a small round cookie cutter and place in the middle of your cake. Place the chocolate curls in the ring, and lift the ring away, letting the curls cascade down. Place the truffles around the edges, and you are finished! Consume within 4 days.

                       

Simple Boozy Chocolate Truffles

Perfect as decorations for cakes, gifts, or an indulgent dessert, these are great! For a non-adult version, remove the Cognac (they still taste as good). Can be quite tricky to get the ganache right, but the rest is simple. Makes approx. 18 (depends on how big you want them)

Ingredients

100g Dark Chocolate (70% Cocoa Solids Minimum)

100ml Whipping Cream

2tbsp Cognac

Cocoa Powder

Method

1. Make sure the chocolate is at room temperature, then chop the chocolate into very small pieces, and place into a heatproof bowl.

2. Heat up the cream in a saucepan right its about to boil, and pour over the chocolate. Stir a little (but not too much, or it will separate) until the chocolate is completely melted. Be patient with this, as it might take a while (if the mix goes cold and the chocolate still hasn't melted, pour a few centimeters of very hot water into a larger heatproof bowl, and place the smaller one inside for a bit).

3. Stir in the cognac, and place the bowl in the fridge. Leave to set until the consistency resembles a thick chocolate mousse.

4. Cover a large chopping board with a thin layer of cocoa powder, and take a small scoop of the chocolate mix, and roll into a ball in your hands. Next, roll it in the cocoa powder until completely covered, then place on a dish

5. Repeat until all the mix is used up. Store in the fridge and enjoy :)

Cookies 'n' Cream Muffins with Homemade Marshmallow Fluff Icing

I don't think I have met one person who doesn't like oreos; so this recipe will suit everyone! Minus my tweaks, the original recipe was from the 'Primrose Bakery', and is the best cookies n cream cupcake/muffin recipe I have found yet, and it works great with the marshmallow fluff icing! It makes around 18 muffins(use a muffin tin, not a cupcake tin). The Marshmallow Fluff recipe makes a lot, so once you've finished icing, store the remaining fluff in the fridge to eat with toast, or use in cakes, drinks etc.                                                             

Ingredients

Cupcake Mix (the 'Cookie')

115g Dark Chocolate

85g Butter

175g Light Muscavado Sugar

2 Eggs (separated)

185g Plain Flour

3/4tsp Baking Powder

3/4tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Pinch of Salt

250ml Semi-Skimmed Milk

1tsp Vanilla Extract

Marshmallow Fluff Icing(the 'Cream')

120g Granulated Sugar

80g Golden Syrup

1.5tbsp Water

2 Egg Whites

1/2tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Pack of Oreos 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas mark 5. Line a 2 12 hole muffin tins with about 18 muffin cases (if you only have one tin, you can bake them in batches).

2. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave. Leave to cool for about 2 minutes.

3. Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer until pale and smooth, then slowly add the egg yolks bit by bit and beat well. Once combined, add the melted chocolate and beat well again.

4. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a medium mixing bowl and mix together until combined. Measure the milk into a jug and stir in the vanilla extract.

5. Gradually add alternate amounts of the dry floury mix and the milk mix into the creamed butter/sugar/chocolate mix, beating well between each addition.

6. In a clean bowl, using a handheld electric whisk, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks have formed. Then, using a spatula or a metal spoon, fold in the egg whites into the batter until thoroughly combined.

7. Using two spoons, spoon the batter into the cases, filling them about 2/3 of the way up, and bake for around 20 minutes (you'll know if you put the right amount of mix in if it's ready in exactly 20 minutes), or until when you stick a skewer in one, it comes out clean. If you don't have two muffin tins like me, cooking in batches might take a while, so start on the icing once the first batch is done.

8. For the marshmallow fluff icing, put the sugar, golden syrup and water into a pan, and cook on a high heat for about two minutes until the mixture thickens and turns golden (it will resemble caramel).

9. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then keep beating while slowly adding the hot sugar mixture. Don't worry if your whites lose their stiffness.

10. Continue beating at a higher speed until the mixture becomes thick, glossy and cool. Towards the end, add the vanilla extract. 

11. Wait about 10 minutes for the muffins to cool a bit before adding the icing, then spoon on a small dollop onto each muffin, and smoothen out with a small palette knife, or a round-ended knife.

12. Chop your oreos into quarters, and save the crumbs. Place two quarters on each cake, and sprinkle the remaining crumbs around them. 

And as always, enjoy! :)