Wednesday 29th June 2011 ~ St Peter’s Day/St Paul’s Day
Mercredi 29 Juin 2011 ~ Sts Pierre/Paul
My friend Lindsey (from Scotland) is here at the moment, with her partner Keir. Today is her birthday, and we, the ladies only of course, have had a wonderful day in Saintes ~ being “Ladies who Lunch and then Crunch” ~ the credit cards that is! If I had had time in-between all the glasses of crisp white wine and tasty mouthfuls of smoked tomato mousse with warm fresh baguette slices, I WOULD have made her a birthday cake! But, as we are dining out tonight as well, there is no time! So, here is a wonderful cake that I prepared and baked earlier, in the manner of Blue Peter! A classic British cake, redolent of sunny Sunday afternoons and tea out on the lawn.
Old Fashioned Milk Chocolate Cake
One of my Mum’s failsafe recipes……originally taken from the Be-Ro Home Recipes Cookbook. This cake is always a winner for afternoon teas and is delicious if eaten with a glass of cold milk! A well-behaved cake when packed for a picnic too. If you don’t have evaporated milk, use full fat fresh milk instead. You can decorate this cake with walnut or pecan halves – little Cadbury’s “Chocolate Buttons” are also a good finishing touch! When raspberries are in season, I often add them to the sandwich filling and to the top for decoration.
Cake:
- 7 ounces self raising flour
- 7 ounces caster sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 ounces cocoa powder
- 4 ounces soft margarine or 4 ounces softened butter
- 2 eggs, beaten with
- 5 tablespoons evaporated milk
- 5 tablespoons extra evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Milk Chocolate Icing:
- 3 ounces butter
- 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 8 ounces sieved icing sugar
- 3 tablespoons hot evaporated milk or 3 tablespoons hot full-fat milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To Decorate:
- chocolate, buttons
- walnuts
- pecans
- raspberries
- CAKE:
- Sieve the flour, sugar, salt and cocoa together.
- Rub in the margarine or butter.
- Stir the beaten eggs and evaporated milk into the mixture, and then add the extra evaporated milk and vanilla extract.
- Beat well until light and fluffy and well mixed.
- Grease and line a 6″ or 7″ round tin – not loose-bottomed as the mixture may run out.
- Bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for 25 to 35 minutes, or until well risen.
- Allow to cool slightly before turning out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely before icing and decorating the cake.
- ICING:
- Melt the butter and blend in the cocoa powder, sieved icing sugar, hot milk and vanilla extract.
- Beat until smooth and thick.
- Allow to settle for about 5 minutes before icing the cake.
- ASSEMBLING THE CAKE:
- When the cake is completely cold, cut the cake in half and sandwich the two halves together with half of the icing.
- Spread some of the remaining icing on the top, reserving some to be piped on in rosettes around the top of the cake. Pipe 12 rosettes on the top of the cake and one in the middle.
- Decorate each rosette with a nut half, chocolate button or fresh raspberry.
- Store in an airtight tin for up to 5 days, or freeze the cake before icing. Can be frozen for up to 3 months.
This looks delicious! Will give it a go at making!
It’s not old-fasioned, it is timeless. 😉
a fabulous classic!
I’ve been eating these cakes for forty years and if I get another forty I’m sure they will feature prominently!!
Ooohhhh I want to make one of these!
So many fantastic recipes, including this one, looks lovely.
Just for a change, this looks lovely. I do adore your old recipes and it’s always good to have an excuse to break out the evaporated milk! Shared on twitter.
I love recipes that don’t have the words low-fat in them! Tweeted.
Another fantastic cake 🙂
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