Wanting to treat my mum to a chocolate bonanza, I ordered in chocolate truffles and deliciously fresh strawberries to top the cake.
While the homemade birthday cake was going to be a surprise, my mum surprised me instead and treated herself to a pre-made cake from Cake Box.
There was no denying that the Loveberry Bliss Cheesecake was beautifully decorated, and tasted great.
Although, this did mean I had all the ingredients ready for Mary Berry’s chocolate birthday cake (minus the truffles, I gave them to Mum), so I decided to bake it anyway.
Here’s how to make Mary Berry’s chocolate birthday cake – and chocolate truffles included!
Chocolate birthday cake
For the cake
- 100g baking spread or soft butter, plus extra for greasing
- 50g cocoa powder
- Six tbsp boiling water
- Four eggs
- 175g self-raising flour
- One tsp baking powder
- 250g caster sugar
For the ganache
- 300ml pouring double cream
- 300g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
- Three tbsp apricot jam
For the decoration
- Five white chocolate truffle balls
- Three large strawberries, halved, green stalk left attached
- 25g dark chocolate, melted
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan/gas four). Grease two 20cm sandwich tins and line with baking paper.
To make the cake
Place the cocoa and boiling water into a large bowl and mix well to make a paste. Add the remaining cake ingredients and whisk until smooth and an even chocolate colour.
Divide the mixture between the prepared tins. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until well risen, shrinking away from the sides of the tin and springy to the touch. Leave for 10 minutes to cool, then carefully remove from the tins and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the ganache
Meanwhile, pour the cream into a small saucepan and heat until piping hot. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate pieces and stir until smooth and shiny. Set aside to cool at room temperature until almost set.
Spread the tops of each cake with apricot jam. Sandwich the cakes with a third of the ganache, then spread another third on top, making pretty swirls.
Spoon some chocolate into a piping bag, fitted with a rose nozzle. Pipe large rosettes in one corner of the cake.
To decorate the cake
Place the truffle balls on the top of the rosettes of icing, then arrange the strawberries around them.
Using a teaspoon or small piping bag, drizzle the melted chocolate in a zig-zag design over the truffles.
While I didn’t have the desire to decorate the chocolate cake, it tasted lovely and was super simple to make.
