Recipe Scene: Chocolate Berry Tower Cake

This cake is very easy, but looks super impressive.  People seem to love height, and this is a large mix so the two cakes are sizeable.  And with the cream filling plus fruit piled on the top it becomes higher still.  The recipe is the Devil’s food Cake from Donna Hay’s simple Essentials: Chocolate book.  I leave out the red food colouring as I think it’s unnecessary.  The recipe calls for buttermilk but if you don’t have any – and really, not many of us would have a carton of it sitting in the fridge you will get the same results if you add a dash of white vinegar tot eh milk before adding it to the other ingredients.  Of course you can decorate this cake with whatever fruit you like, but I just can’t go past the chocolate and berries combo.

Ingredients

Cake

185 grams softened butter

1 ¾ cups (385 grams) sugar

1 ½ vanilla extract

3 eggs

½ cup (125 mls) buttermilk

1/3 (80 mls) water

2 cups (300 grams) plain flour

2/3 cup (80 grams) cocoa powder

1 ¼ taspoons bicarbonate soda

Ganache

1 cup cream

250 grams cooking chocolate

Filling and topping

Cream (extra)

Fruit

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. Grease and line two round cake tins.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.  Mix the rest of the ingredients in, and stir until well combined but don’t over-mix.
3. Pour into the two tins and bake for about 50 minutes. When done turn out on a wire rack.
4. To make the ganache heat the chocolate and cream together and stir well until smooth and glossy. Pop in the fridge until cooled but not set, you want tit to be of a reasonably thin, pouring consistency so that it runs down the sides of the cake.
5. When the cakes are completely cool fill with extra cream and some fruit. Top with the second cake and pour the ganache over so it runs down the side.  Pile high with remaining fruit.