Dark Chocolate Mud Cake

This is a recipe adapted from the Women’s Weekly Best Ever Kid’s Cake book. The toffee comes from Women’s Weekly Cooking Class Cookbook.

Total Time: 2 hours 20 mins approx.

Time for cake: 40 mins

Time for toffee: 30 mins + 1 hour to set

Makes 1 cake, enough to feed almost 20 people (small serves due to richness)

Ingredients

Cake

• 360g Yummy Dark Chocolate
• Butter
• water
• Brown sugar
• Spelt flour
• Cocoa powder
• Baking soda
• (I’ll find the exact amounts soon)

Toffee

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 drops of yellow food colouring, 1 drop of red

Other for assembly

• TV snacks
• Cocoa Buttercream icing
• extra cocoa
• 1 dark flake (85g)
• 1 milk chocolate flake (85g)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C
2. Combine the chocolate, butter, sugar and water over low heat until smooth, stirring continuously (sugar will burn quickly).
3. Sift together flour, cocoa and baking soda.
4. Add the liquid mix and stir until combined.
5. Line 2 same sized round baking pans with baking paper and oil. Divide mixture between pans evenly.
6. Cook for 15-20 mins until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
7. Cool on a wire rack.

Toffee

1. Place all ingredients in the smallest pot they fit in (they should fill about half the pot).
2. On low heat, dissolve the sugar, stirring continuously. As sugar gets deposited on the side of the pot use a pastry brush dipped in water to wash the sugar back down. This helps to avoid burning of those small amounts of sugar.
3. Once all sugar is dissolved, bring to a rapid boil for 15 or so minutes. To test if the toffee is done, use cold (fridge) water, drop a small amount of mixture in. If it “cracks” then the toffee is ready. If not, continue boiling and testing every minute or so. Be careful not to over-boil and burn the toffee.
4. When ready, immediately place the pan in a bath of cold (tap) water. This stops the cooking process. After a few minutes, pour the toffee onto a large sheet of baking paper. You can make different shapes by allowing non-uniform edges to be poured.
5. Allow to set on the bench top. Do not place in the fridge and avoid humid environs. This will cause the toffee to go sticky.
6. When set, break into fire shaped pieces (triangular/ wavy…).

Assemble

1. Create a cocoa butter cream icing.
2. Place one cake on the cake board and cover with icing.
3. Place the other cake on top and cover with icing. Use a wet spatula to help smooth the top of the cake, but don’t worry about the sides (just make them neat).
4. Sift some cocoa powder on top of the cake to make it look like dirt.
5. Place TV snacks around the cakes as shown.
6. Creatively place the broken toffee in the middle of the cake.
7. Cut flakes into thirds and arrange around the flames.
8. Serve (I cut pieces that were 3 TV snacks thick).