Creepy cobweb cake
For Halloween John is making a creepy cobweb cake with his nifty marshmallow trick.
Serves 8-10
Ingredients for the cake
90g butter or margarine 100g caster sugar180ml whole milk3 large eggs240g self raising flour60g cocoa powder1tsp bicarb150g Guinness200g dark muscovado sugar
Ingredients for the ganache icing and cobwebs
250g dark chocolate, chopped 250g milk chocolate, chopped350g double cream50g white mini marshmallows
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Place the butter and caster sugar into a mixing bowl and beat until the sugar is more or less dissolved into the butter (this is much easier in a stand mixer with paddle attachment if you own one but by hand is fine).
Add the milk and eggs and beat in, then sift over the flour, cocoa powder and bicarb and fold in until you have a smooth batter.
Stir the dark muscovado sugar into the Guinness until completely dissolved, then pour that into the cake batter and beat in.
Divide the cake batter between three 3 x 20cm cake tins, greased and lined with baking paper, as evenly as possible. Then bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean (be aware the cakes will not rise like a normal sponge, so don’t pani if they are slightly flatter). Allow the cakes to cool completely in their tins.
For the ganache icing, place the milk and dark chocolate and cream into a heatproof bowl. Set this over a pan of barely simmering water and stir until the chocolate melts into the cream and you have a smooth, glossy ganache. Allow to cool to room temperature, until the constancy of chocolate spread.
Place one cake onto a cake card or cake stand and spread a little of the frosting over it. Top with another cake and repeat. Place the final cake on top and cover the entire thing with a thin layer of frosting – the crumb coat. Chill for 20 minutes, then add more frosting and get it as neat as possible then chill again.
For the cobwebs, melt the marshmallows in a small heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water until the consistency of raw meringue. Allow it to cool slightly and thicken, then pull bits of marshmallow apart to create thin strands and drape these all around the cake to create cobwebs.
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