Chocolate Cake

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This one is for all the other times when you just want a great, classic Chocolate Cake. Which in my world, is 80% of the time! – Nagi x

Michael Rosen’s stories are often inspired by his own life, and anyone reading Chocolate Cake definitely gets the impression that he might be drawing from his own childhood in this tale of the irresistible cake. It’s certainly something that many families reading will recognise too, and Kevin Waldron’s illustration of an absolutely yummy chocolate cake are also sure to get some tummies rumbling. Marvellous fun! Add the boiling water to the mixture, a little at a time, until smooth. (The cake mixture will now be very liquid.)A little boy who really, really loves his mum’s chocolate cake wakes up in the middle of the night and decides to go downstairs just to look at it. Super quiet, he tiptoes past his parents’ bedroom and takes care not to wake up his brother, down to the kitchen. There’s the cake: brown and gooey and totally brilliant in every way. Our Story Thomas Bell founded a wholesale grocery firm near the Tyne quays and railway station in Newcastle in the 1880s. Among his top-selling brands were 'Bells Royal' baking powder and a self raising flour. Following the death of Edward VII, it became illegal to use the Royal name. As a result, Bell decided to take the first couple of letters from the each of the two words of the brand name and turn them into the more catchy sounding ' Be-Ro'. To assemble the cake, run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the cake tins to loosen the cakes. Carefully remove the cakes from the tins. Add a little milk until you have a dropping consistency, then divide between the tins. It’s best to only fill the sandwich tins 3/4 full.

Spoon another third of the icing on to the top of the cake and spread it in a swirly, textured way (though you can go for a smooth finish if you prefer, and have the patience). Spread the sides of the cake with the remaining icing and leave a few minutes till set, then carefully pull away the paper strips. self raising flour.If you’ve had the flour for a while, also add a heaped teaspoon of baking powder. Add the sieved icing sugar, stirring into the butter alongwith the evaporated milk and vanilla extract. This is a really easy yet exceptional Chocolate Cake that truly tastes of chocolate. The crumb is beautifully tender and moist, and it keeps for up to 5 days. It requires no beater, just a wooden spoon. For the chocolate buttercream, it’s quite a simple one. You MUST use ACTUAL UNSALTED BUTTER. I mean the kind you find in foil, and that when its fridge cold, is solid. You can use a spread for the cake, but NOT for the buttercream. I might get a few smart arse comments about this as to ‘why not’ but if you want a stable buttercream, that will last no matter the heat outside, use actual unsalted butter.Yes, fridges are a dry environment which will draw moisture from a cake making it stale before its time, so do not put sponge cakes in the fridge in an attempt to make them last longer. Add the golden syrup or light corn syrup to the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla and then when all this is combined whisk in the sieved confectioners' sugar. Or just pour this mixture down the funnel of the food processor on to the confectioners' sugar, with the motor running. In the early 1920s, the most commonly used type of flour was plain flour. Self-raising flour was more expensive and considered a novelty - consumers bought plain flour direct from the miller and self-raising flour was only sold into independent grocers. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Grease 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with a little butter and base line with baking paper. In a bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy. Carefully sandwich the cakes together and use the rest of the icing to cover the top. This mix holds well to the sides, so if you’ve made this as one big cake (my preferred way) then you can cover top and sides of the whole cake if you like (we do!)

Michael Rosen is such a fun and interactive storyteller, which he often does through poetry. Chocolate Cake must be one of the most memorable poems for me. The poem is filled with silly sounds which leaves children laughing every time. Line by line you can visualise every move made when sneaking downstairs, you can hear the creaks of the floorboards, and taste each and every crumb from the delicious chocolate cake. This poem has since been made into a picture book which has great illustrations for children to enjoy. Furthermore, Miachel Rosen himself has a Youtube channel where he reads the poem in an incredibly funny and engaging manner. Light those candles and take it through…Happy Birthday! Delicious Milk Chocolate Cake, ready to eat…Tip:If you make this as one big cake rather than a layer cake with filling, you’ll probably have a bit of icing left over. It keeps well in the fridge, so try a dollop on vanilla ice-cream… One delicious Milk Chocolate Cake; one million sprinkles!

All in all, I have used this recipe technically loads of times on my blog, in my Oreo drip cake for example, but never done a post on a simple chocolate cake before. I personally, prefer using light brown sugar in the sponge because I like the flavour, but either that, caster sugar, or golden caster sugar would work perfectly fine. Our best chocolate cakes collection has all types of chocolate cake covered, including gluten-free and vegan options, light spongy cakes and rich deeply-chocolatey cakes. For this, I am a big fan of the video clip where an animated Rosen is telling the audience of eating his mum’s delicious chocolate cake. The sound effects and story itself are hilarious and will be enjoyed by children and adults alike!

Be-Ro Flours

Spread a little chocolate icing over the top of one of the chocolate cakes, then carefully top with the other cake. Leave in the tins for 5 – 10 minutes, then turn out to cool completely. All turned out and ready for icing. ​for the milk chocolate icing/filling