Chippy Cakes

Nutty Chocolate Finger Cake

Thursday 1 November 2012

Hi everyone!! This is a cake that I've made for a family friend a few months ago. It is very similar to my previous chocolate finger cake recipe, except for the variations with the buttercream and the decoration.

Ingredients:

For the cake

Vegetable oil or oil spray
200g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
4 eggs
140g plain flour, sifted
60g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt

For the buttercream

250g butter, softened
500g icing sugar
2-3 tbsps milk
100g dark chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
100g nuts, chopped (you can use almond, walnut, hazelnut, etc. The choice is up to you)

For the decoration

3 packs of Cadbury Chocolate Fingers (white and milk chocolate)
Fresh strawberries
Ribbon (optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line a 21cm/9in round deep cake tin with baking paper and brush/spray with oil.
Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add half of the eggs, then half of the flour and mix well. Add the rest of the eggs, flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Beat for a minute or two until the mixture is uniform.
Tip the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Once cooked, leave for 5 minutes then remove onto a wire rack.
While waiting for the cake to cook, make the buttercream! Beat sugar and icing sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until the mixture goes fluffy. Add some of the cooled, melted chocolate and whisk for a further 2 minutes. Save 2 tbsps of the melted chocolate for later use. Gradually add the milk until it has reached your desired consistency. Sometimes, less milk would be better to avoid a runny icing.
Seperate 1/3 of the buttercream in a small bowl. Tip in the chopped nuts and mix until fully combined. I used chopped walnuts, but you can also use a mixture of any kind. For example, 50g walnuts and 50g hazelnut. You get the gist!
Once the cake is completely cool, cut the top with a large serrated knife so it becomes a nice flat top. Then, slice the cake in the middle so it becomes 2 big layers.
Place one layer onto a cake board and fill with the nutty buttercream. Top with the second layer and spread with the chocolate buttercream on top and the sides. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes so the buttercream can set. Don't worry if it's not neat and smooth, we'll do that in the second coating. Remove from the fridge and cover with the rest of the buttercream. This time, doing it as smooth and neatly as possible.
Gently push the chocolate fingers vertically onto the sides of the cake, positioning them as straight as possible and making sure they are uniform.
The last part is up to you! You can choose to decorate this cake how you want it to be. I decided to surround the sides with fresh strawberries and sliced them in the middle. With the leftover melted chocolate, I drizzled the strawberries. If the chocolate has set, just blast it in the microwave for 10 seconds. I also wrapped the cake with a golden ribbon to make it more pretty!

The cake was a big hit! It was for a family friend's birthday party and they loved it! (Well, I think so, anyway) It was light and moist, not sickly sweet, and the chopped nut was a great addition to the buttercream.

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