Toffee vodka chocolate cake
A rich and decadent cake for a special occasion
Ingredients
- 250 g butter softened
- 250 g soft dark brown sugar
- 250 g self-raising flour
- 50 g cocoa powder plus a little extra for decoration
- 4 large eggs
- 100 g natural yoghurt
- 100 ml toffee vodka
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- For the syrup
- 100 mls toffee vodka
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- For the frosting
- 112 g softened butter
- 250 g icing sugar
- 1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or paste
- 1 to 2 tablespoons cream - depending how thick you like your buttercream
- Ganache ingredients
- 28 g butter softened
- 50 ml milk
- 100 g dark chocolate
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C/gas mark 4.
- Grease and line 2 x 8 inch sandwich tins (dust them with a little cocoa powder).
- Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat for about ten minutes, until light and creamy.
- Add the flour, cocoa powder, eggs, yoghurt, vodka and vanilla and mix for a few minutes more until well combined.
- Divide the mixture between the two cake tins and bake for about 25 minutes until springy to the touch.
- Leave to cool while you make the vodka syrup
- Heat the vodka and sugar in a small pan until the sugar has completely dissolved.
- Remove the sponges from the tins and place them on a wire rack.
- Brush the vodka syrup across the sponges, allowing it to soak in.
- Leave to cool completely.
- For the frosting
- Beat together the butter and icing sugar and gradually add the vanilla extract and cream until the mixture is smooth, light and fluffy.
- Sandwich the two sponges together with about half the frosting and cover the sides of the cake with the rest.
- Use a puffer to blow some cocoa powder onto the sides of the cake.
- Ganache - Break up the chocolate into a medium sized, heatproof bowl and set aside. Place milk and butter into a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until butter has melted completely.
- Increase heat to medium high and allow mixture to cook another couple of minutes, until you see tiny bubbles around the edge of the saucepan.
- Do not allow the milk to boil or it will burn.
- Pour hot milk into the bowl of chocolate and allow it to sit for a couple of minutes, then stir until the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture is shiny and smooth.
- Pour over the cake