One of the Christmas gifts I received this year was quite a large box of Thornton's classic chocolates - yum! Except I can't eat some of them, so what better way to share the generosity shown to me by the giver than to share the bounty of these chocolates?! Chele set the challenge this month, and specified that the added ingredient in addition to chocolate was to be leftovers.
I really wanted to incorporate them into a cake of some kind, after all, cake making is what I enjoy the most and I had other ingredients that also needed to be used up. I considered making a compost cake type cake, or a type of fridge cake where the chocolates could become part of a larger whole, but then decided that I wanted my colleagues to be able to choose their favourite chocolate from the 'menu'. The cake I chose to make therefore needed to be delicious, but not the main event. I made a standard vanilla cake, topped it with vanilla buttercream and then added the chocolates.
Vanilla cake
Ingredients
200g softened butter
215g caster sugar
215g self raising flour
4 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
2tsp vanilla extract
For the buttercream
100g soft butter (I used 125g, which was too much)
about 200g icing sugar (possibly a little more)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method
- Preheat the oven to gas 4/180C. Grease and line a traybake tin, 8x12" (20x30cm).
- Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food mixer and turn on. Mix until well combined.
- Spoon into the tin and spread out. Next time I'll try and spread more out of the middle and towards the edge, as my edges ended up a bit thin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until risen, golden and springy.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack before decorating.
- For the buttercream, beat the butter on its own until very soft indeed. Add the icing sugar fairly gradually unless you want to choke on sugar.... Add the vanilla extract and a little water or milk to make the mixture more spreadable.
- Frost the cake, mark your portions (I did 24) and place on your chocolates.
The eagle eyed amongst you will spot that a few of the chocs made it into me rather than onto the cake, leaving three spaces. I filled these with Galaxy minstrels. My colleagues absolutely loved this cake - I received so many compliments about it, and yet the decoration was so easy to do. I must try making more of an effort with decorations in the future because they really do seem to be appreciated! And as you can see T, I did leave the foil wrappers on those chocolates, otherwise how can you find them on the little menu card?
13 comments:
That is such a pretty idea. I think it would be so neat to receive a piece of cake with a delicious chocolate on top to eat as well. I have a new linky on my blog called "Sweets for a Saturday" and I'd like to invite you to stop by this weekend and link this up.
Wow such a great idea so simple but looks great
Total genius!!! I love the idea of people being able to pick their fave piece of cake by the chocolate that sits on top of it. Loove it, love it, LOVE IT!
A simple but very clever idea! I never have leftover chocolates, though. LOL!
Oh that is simply brilliant - you will no doubt see a thousand copies of that cake everywhere. I just love it!!!! You should trademark it immediately. (I still have a left over Green and Black Easter egg, any suggestions what to do with that?)
I second what Chele says "Total Genius!!!" Those We should Cocoa girls should give you a prize!
I take it back - they look great even in their wrappers!
Beautiful cake there.
Bet your colleagues were delighted.
Lisa - thanks! I'll try and visit your blog soon!
Cupcakegirl - thank you!
Chele - I'm glad you love it! My colleagues did too!
Suelle - thanks! I wouldn't have leftovers if I weren't allergic to them ;-)
Joanna - thank you so much! Not sure I can trademark it though! You've reminded me that I've got a G&B egg left too, wonder what we can do with them...
T - sometimes I have good ideas - it all depends on the alignment of the stars and planets as to whether my two brain cells are allowed to rub together and generate ideas.... doesn't happen often!
BG - thanks, yes, my colleagues were very impressed!
Just jumped over from the We Should Cocoa Roundup. That chocolate box cake is a brill idea - well done and I may be stealing the idea in the near future :-0
just saw this on Chele's blog... genius idea!
This is just such a cute idea. I am totally stealing it off you :-)
I've popped over from We Should Cocoa too - this is sheer genius!
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