Offices in this part of the world don’t need much of an excuse to have cake orgies. Leaving, starting, retiring, birthdays, anniversaries, births, deaths, you name it and the cakes come out and the tea is brewed.
So when VerdictfromtheMrs asked me to get a cake together for her office (the reason being a birthday) I jumped at the chance. I am trying to stay off cake so it was a good excuse for making one without being tempted to then stuff it.
So we went for a fairly safe bet – a Chocolate Fudgy Cream Cake. The secret to this baby is simply loading it with chocolate – no one really cares about the quality of the baking if its chocolatey enough. Required ingredients:
- Self-raising flour
- Large amounts of very good dark chocolate
- Good quality cocoa powder
- Butter
- 3 eggs
- Baking Soda
- Caster Sugar
- Double Cream
I am still trying to create a decent sponge but so far the light fluffy effect has alluded me. But I don’t care – this creation is all about the chocolate (and should the end product have ended up looking like a deflated dog’s dinner my other half would not have been humiliated in the office because everyone would be focused on the chocolate anyway)
First all the ingredients (bar the chocolate, bizzarely) go in a bowl:
Then they get whizzed into a delicious creamy goo that is good enough to eat in itself (raw egg and all!)
The creamy mixture now gets transfered to a couple of cake tins and smoothed out (the mixture needs to be quite runny so add a bit of milk if it doesn’t fall off a spoon easily).
Then bake at medium heat (about 180) for 20 mins or so. Not too long, but not too short. Meanwhile add more butter to a bowl along with the all-important chocolate:
Warm gently over a pan of water to create a mouth-wateringly chocolatey ganache. Leave to cool a bit
Get the sponges out of the oven and leave to cool. Whip up the cream.
You are now ready to create the cake. Start with a sponge:
Bit flat but who cares?!
Then add the cream. All of it.
Now put the other sponge on top:
And then pour the ganache stuff all over it:
Now cover with generous amounts of shaved chocolate:
And your done. Now you just have to hope that the people in the wife’s office aren’t on a health kick. And they weren’t.
So this baby was up against some competition – namely Rocky Road:
But our creation did okay – this was it after about 15 mins:
Look at the thickness of the ganache – that takes some doing that does
And the cake carrier came home empty!
So what’s the best creation that has been presented in your workplace (or the worst come to that!)?
You’ve got me laughing about your office parties. I used to visit one of our offices in Bristol & every time was treated to some sort of party. “oh, someone from the home office – let’s have a party”… “oh someone leaving to go back to the home office – let’s have a party”… “oh someone from upstairs is visiting our floor – let’s have a party”. They always made me feel very welcome & we usually got quite a lot of actual work done. What really amazed me though we the ladies who came along with the tea carts – back in the States, “hey go get yer own coffee”. Cake is always good & chocolate is even gooder.
So.. you’re turning into quite the Baker! Love the whole chocolate dripping loveliness in your photos.. what a luck office to receive that gorgeous cake!!
Its always a bit scary to send a creation off to be judged by people you have never met. It all got eaten too – at least thats what my wife tells me!
I really enjoy your blog, so I’ve nominated you for the for the Sunshine Award! See http://frommyfrontstep.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/the-sunshine-award/ Thanks and congratulations!
Thanks very much!
staying off cake is difficult so what I do is just eat Nutella on a spoon and pretend it’s icing and eat an occasional cupcake as if it were cake. Good thing I am not a baker, then I’d really be in trouble.
I admire your honesty. While we’re at it I like to eat peanut butter, branston pickle, dairylea slices and mayo sandwiches. I’ve never admitted that before in writing
Looks fab – must add to the list of cakes to try!
Oh please provide measurements, I want to try that cake, I don’t think the sponge looks flat at all. It looks like it has a great texture.
I know this isn’t an office story but I was reminded about a school party we had in primary(elementary) school and everybody had to bring something. Now my mum is an excellent cook/baker, but she isn’t one for presentation, frosting/icing and decorations. She made ordinary vanilla cupcakes which were not bad but the other mums made fancy queen cakes shaped like butterflies and stuff.
Kids are very fussy and nobody liked my(mum’s) cupcakes and it was terribly embarrassing. Lol.
I didn’t about the measurements – I guess that might be the reason wny I don’t quite nail the baking thing!
thanks for stopping by my blog ~ the cake looks yum!
I like how you have given no quantities for butter or double cream. Just a lot of butter and double cream!
And combined with chocolate? Deadly.
Once, someone in the department came in with some rose water vegan, gluten-free cupcakes. I didn’t try them. Would you?!
No I don’t think I would – they sound like one step away from eating air!
Or fiber
I brought in shrimp stuffed baked potatoes for a work luncheon. They’ve been requested by coworkers several times since. Seems like there’s always a luncheon or party going on for one thing or another. Nurses DO like to eat!!
Savory stuff- I wish people would do that in our place!
Deadly looking cake by the way.
Being an ad agency, we get (or used to get before the IMF arrived in town) all sorts of daft stuff left in by the media. One newspaper took to having pizzas delivered once a month. They always arrived on a Monday at around 3.00. Others have left in the usual cases of wine and beer to celebrate various ratings increases. The most bizarre was a full size foozeball table. Two weeks ago we received 16 breakfast rolls (at 2.30) to celebrate something or other. There are only 11 of us in the place.
Our software team order in 24 pizzas once a month to celebrate – well Im not sure really but they seem to enjoy themselves
We can post them our Monday afternoon delivery.
with the bread rolls cheers!
I like the nice bottle of red in the background too – my kind of baking!
Yes it kind of cuts the sweetness a bit. No really it does. And the cake soaks up the booze so it works both ways
You are killing me man Tease!
Oh its just a little something for those windy wet evenings you know.