Well, here we are at box number 1… How exciting!
In your box you will find everything you need to make this cake, with the exception of a few fresh bit we emailed you about last night. They are: 1 pack of butter, 3 free range eggs and 100 grams of mascarpone.
Did you get them? Great, let’s begin….
Open your Bakes box and lay out the contents, it’s all clearly labelled for you so let’s try and avoid any disasters!
1) Pre heat your oven to 180/160c/ gas mark 6 and line the base of 2 x 15cm round shallow baking tins with baking parchment.
2) Place 150 grams of softened butter into a mixing bowl and empty in the caster sugar sachet by snipping off the corner with a pair of sharp scissors. Using an electric whisk, beat until light and fluffy. (You could do this with a wooden spoon but an electric whisk or mixer is better and will hurt your arm a lot less!)
3) Crack in you eggs and continue whisking until fully incorporated (it won’t look very appetising at all at this stage – DO NOT GIVE UP!) Add the flour and 1 of the cocoa sachets and fold in with your wooden spoon until its an even colour. At this stage you might want to add a splash of boiling water if the mix is really stiff – just a splash though, we don’t want soup!
4) Split the mixture in half between the 2 prepared baking tins and use a spoon dipped in boiling water (or a palette knife if you have one) to level out the mixture in the tin. Place on the middle shelf of the heated oven for 15-20 minutes or until firm in the middle – don’t over bake it, you still want a little gooey-ness in the middle. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
5) To make the frosting; place the rest of the softened butter (100 grams), mascarpone, icing sugar and the final cocoa sachet into a bowl and whisk on full power for 4 minutes. Add a tiny splash of boiling water to get a shiny, glossy consistency.
6) Fold down your piping bag and fill with the frosting mixture. Cut the end of the bag into a 10 pence sized hole – about 4 cm from the end. Gently squeeze even sized amounts of the frosting around the edge of 1 of the cakes and then fill the centre in the same way. Gently place the second cake on top and use the rest of the frosting to cover it with a knife or palette knife. Empty the caramel into a small dish or ramekin and mix it well with your spoon, (at this point you will be tempted to just eat the caramel straight from the dish – don’t!) then drizzle, splodge, smear or drop it onto the top of your cake, allowing some to fall down the edges.
Make a cup of tea, sit down with friends and enjoy your delicious bake!
Enjoy your first box, don’t forget to upload and tag your pics with #mybakes so we can see and share them!
Happy Baking! xx
All imaged courtesy of the wonderous Georgina Martin Photographer
