Cakes come in all shapes, flavours and sizes, and British chef Mary Berry is considered an expert on some of the classics.
Victoria’s sponge and carrot cake are two of the most traditional bakes, but the baking expert has a much easier recipe to satisfy chocolate cravings.
Sharing her chocolate chip traybake from her book Mary Berry’s Quick Cooking, Mary claimed that it’s “such an easy cake to make”.
She credited the short preparation time to her “all-in-one method” which makes it “very quick to mix”.
While some bakes can be too sweet with thick buttercream slathered on top, Mary prefers creamy mascarpone as a topping.
Method
For this recipe, you will need a 23x30cm/9x12in traybake tin and a hot oven set to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4.
Grease the tin with butter then cover with baking paper to prevent the sponge from sticking as it cooks.
Make a start on the cake mixture by measuring out the cocoa powder along with the boiling water, and mix in a large bowl until smooth.
Add all of the remaining sponge ingredients, ensuring the baking spread is cold and used straight from the fridge. Use an electric hand whisk to mix everything until light and fluffy.
Finally, fold in the chocolate chips to ensure they’re evenly distributed before pouring the mixture into the prepared tin.
Position the tray in the middle of the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the cake is coming away from the sides of the tin and is springy to the touch in the middle.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin on a wire rack. Meanwhile, make a start on the delicious, creamy icing.
Take a bowl and mix the mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl. It may help to sieve the icing sugar to ensure there are no lumps.
Spread the mascarpone icing over the surface of the cold cake and dust with cocoa powder to finish, then slice into about 16 pieces and enjoy.
