It was my baby brother’s birthday recently and a cake was absolutely in order. By baby I meant he is nudging the upper end of his 30s but in my heart he’s still the funny little boy who used to fall asleep standing up while playing with Matchbox cars.
My mum hosted a family lunch and bought my bros an ice-cream cake – sort of as a joke, sort of because he actually requested one. Obviously a real, actual chocolate birthday would also be needed.
I found the ideal recipe in David Herbert’s Best Ever Baking Recipes and it was not only a snap to make, it turned out exactly like the photo in the book! Huzzah! It tasted rich and fudgy and decadent – a perfect birthday cake.
Gather:
100 g butter, diced, at room temperature
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
250g caster sugar
100g dark chocolate melted
280g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon bicarb
2 tablespoons cocoa
250ML milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Let’s get to it:
Preheat oven to 180C and grease a 20cm springform tin and line the base with baking paper.
Combine butter, egg, sugar and meted chocolate in a large bowl. Sift in flour, bicarb and cocoa.
Combine milk and lemon juice in a small jug (it should curdle slightly) and pour into the bowl.
Beat with hand held beaters or spoon for 2minutes / until smooth.
Pour into tin and bake for 50 minutes/ until a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before turning out to wire rack to cool.
When cold dress with ganache [I cheated and tried a new product I’d seen in the chilled section – Philly chocolate frosting. It tasted good & is perfect for when you don’t have time to whip up ganache].
the hungry mum 
This makes me wish it was my birthday! Looks divine!
Hehehe! Thanks. Maybe you could drop a hint for when it is your birthday 🙂
What a great cake! I’m sure he was very happy to receive it, as would be any of us.
Thanks! He was pretty happy with it and there wasn’t a crumb left 🙂
Yep… it was fantastic!
😉
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That frosting looks amazing! I’ve never heard of philly chocolate frosting (Philly, as in Philadelphia cream cheese?). I’m sure your baby brother loved this cake – I sure would!
Thanks. Yep, Philly cream cheese choc frosting. Sounds hmmmm, but is really good. Spreads lovely, too.
A beautiful birthday cake indeed! The frosting looks to die for – sooo fudgy and chocolatey!!
Can’t take credit for the frosting [cheater!] but it was a very choc-tastic creation 🙂
You can’t hear this but as I exhale in deep appreciation, I have stretched “Ooooo, nice!” to five syllables. This is definitely a Willy Wonka Lickable-Telly-Screen moment.
wow, I did wonder what that sound was & now I know 🙂 Thank you muchly for your lovely words x
Made this for my sisters birthday – was delicious!! I made ganache but will have to remember the Philly one next time I’m in a rush….
Yay! Hope she liked it. I usually make ganache but tat Philly was a real life saver.
Looks absolutely delicious 😀 thank you for sharing the recipe!
oooh, thanks for your sweet words x
Please excuse me while I wipe the drool off my chin.
You’re excused. Have another slice, won’t you?
Wow… that is one fudgy, gorgeous looking cake. Yum!
Thanks – it is absolutely fudge-tastic!
That looks amazing – and it sounds even better. Happy belated birthday to Todd! In other news, I can’t believe I wasn’t following your blog. Doh. Corrected now!
Reblogged this on the hungry mum.