Friday 24 October 2014

Chocolate Candy Cake

Floating M&M cake

This is a choc-a-holic's dream cake. It's a 2 layer chocolate sour cream cake covered with chocolate ganache with a layer of chocolate ganache in the middle. It is surrounded by Kit Kat's and topped with Maltesers and peanut M&M's. The best part is that it is designed to look as if the chocolates are pouring down on to the cake. The inspiration was actually a challenge by my friend who saw it on the internet and challenged me to make a similar cake. It was a work colleague's leaving do and it's getting close to Halloween so I decided to give it a go. 

I had fun constructing this cake even though it was a little frustrating at times. I used drinking straws to suspend the chocolate wrappers but you can also use long lollipop sticks. I used chocolate ganache as my 'glue' to stick the sweets to the straw and to hold the wrappers in place. The malteser half was very easy to build in comparison to the peanut M&M's. I think they are too heavy and too awkwardly shaped. I'll try regular M&M's next time or Mint Aero's. 

Everyone was really impressed with the cake, myself included! It was tricky to slice as the maltesers and M&M's scattered everywhere so make sure you are prepared. The cake was rich and chocolatey and the chocolate ganache was absolutely divine. 

I'm entering this to We Should Cocoa hosted by Hannah from Honey & Dough on behalf of Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog. The theme this month is Halloween and this would be perfect for a Halloween party. It's not scary but it's definitely very chocolatey and perfect for a celebration. 


For a similar reason, I am also entering it to Let's Cook for Halloween hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.


It's also going to Bake of the Week hosted by Helen from Casa Castello. 


Finally to Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy from Supergolden Bakes.




 I ended up using 32 Kit Kat fingers, 500g peanut M&M's, 360g Maltesers and 660g of chocolate for this recipe! 

 cook chocolate, butter and cocoa powder with some water

 whisk chocolate mixture into the flour mixture

 add in the eggs

 whisk in the sour cream

 sandwich and cover with chocolate ganache - don't worry if it's messy, it will all be covered

 arrange the Kit Kat fingers around the outside leaving a gap in the front 

 place 2 drinking straws and adjust the height if needed (I had to push my straws in as it would not fit into my cake box otherwise) 

 Building up the cake 

 almost there...

floating malteser cake Looking good

Floating Malteser cake It survived overnight! 

For the cake 
250g plain four
45g cocoa powder
60g dark chocolate pieces
225g butter
1 cup water
300g sugar
2 eggs
1.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the chocolate ganache
300mls double cream
600g dark chocolate 

For the decorations
32 Kit Kat fingers
360g Maltesers
500g Peanut M&M's
2 drinking straws
  • Preheat the oven to 180C.
  • Grease and line 2 sandwich tins. 
  • Place the butter, cocoa powder, chocolate and water to cook over a medium heat.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda and sugar together.
  • Carefully add half the melted chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk. 
  • Add the eggs one at a time and continue whisking. 
  • Then add the sour cream and vanilla extract.
  • Divide the batter between the two cake tins (I weigh mine to make sure that it's even) and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until cooked and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  • Allow the cake to cool completely before decorating. 
  • Make the chocolate ganache by heating the double cream in a small pot.
  • Once it's almost boiling, remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate.
  • Continue stirring until the chocolate has melted.
  • Whisk the mixture until smooth and glossy. 
  • Allow it to set at room temperature before using. If it starts getting solid then just warm it in the microwave to the desired consistency.
  • Decorate the cake as shown above.



41 comments:

  1. Oh my god this looks insane! I love it! I've never seen a cake decorated like that before.

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    Replies
    1. Me neither until my friend challenged me and I've been wanting to make this for months now.

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  2. This is so impressive, right from the description, through the look of it to the amount of chocolate that has gone into it. I KNOW I would enjoy a huge slice of this. A few more of your colleagues might be leaving soon if they think they will get something like this!

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    Replies
    1. Actually one of them did joke that she was leaving if she could get a cake like this! It was so nice to meet you at the Cake and Bake show!

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  3. omg this looks incredible!... I saw this on the internet too and was completely stumped so you've dispelled that myth for me!... I love the look of this and would so much enjoy cutting into it for a slice... fab piece of work!

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    Replies
    1. It stumped me too until I worked out drinking straws would work perfectly.

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  4. That is so clever Ros, it looks truly amazing. I was just goggling at the picture for ages, wondering how on earth you'd done it. No photography trickery I realised on reading, but your very own clever artistic hands. Can't believe the amount of chocolate either - crikey! Great cake. Thanks for entering it into We Should Cocoa.

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    Replies
    1. Everyone was so impressed and of course wanted to know the secret. I took a gamble with the straws and I'm really pleased it worked!

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  5. This is brilliant, Ros! Did that really fit in your cake carry case? I'm amazed just straws are enough to hold the packets up and that you got the sweets to stick to them, it looks so much more complicated than that!

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    Replies
    1. I had to use my pink 3 tray cupcake carrier, minus the cupcake trays of course as it's the tallest cake box I have. The effect is less dramatic as I had to push the straws quite far down but it worked. I'm really pleased the straws work as they have a natural bend that you can angle to suit you.

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  6. The cake looks amazing! I would never have guessed that you had used drinking straws to suspend the wrappers; I was sure it was a trick and you were holding them up somehow off camera.

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  7. Very very clever! Well done you! Ridiculously sweet I am sure, but definitely one to impress!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! It was very rich and sweet but it was definitely impressive!

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  8. Wow - that is so effective. Thanks for giving away the secret...it's all thanks to drinking straws!

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    Replies
    1. I thought I'd share it with everyone as I was so pleased with the results of my experimentation!

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  9. Oh my! This looks spectacular!! Ahhhh...the secret was straws..fantastic!

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    Replies
    1. Indeed! No need to order specialist stuff online.

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  10. What a showstopper! It is a completely WOW kind of cake... just don't let my kids catch sight of it. The straws are genius! Thanks for linking to #CookBlogShare

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    Replies
    1. It's definitely a wow cake and I can't wait to make it again! Glad I thought of the straws :)

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  11. This cake looks wonderful and so very clear to pop the sweet bags as part of the decoration.

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  12. This cake is right up my street!!! x

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  13. Brilliant - I've had one of these on my 'to make' list for ages - I've seen it done with balloon sticks too which might be a bit stronger for the M&Ms. Thanks again for joining in with #Bakeoftheweek xx

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  14. Thank you for entering We Should Cocoa this month with such a stunner of a cake! The floating chocolate packets are such a showstopper.

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  15. Wow, so much chocolate!! Looks amazing!

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    Replies
    1. It was chocolate overload but utterly delicious!

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  16. This is SO fun! love the pouring out chocs!

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    Replies
    1. I loved making this cake and eating it too :)

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  17. What a great Halloween you had. Love the blood and bones.

    Best Halloween Party in UK

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