Chocolate Traybake with Chocolate Chip Brown Sugar Cookie Dough Icing

Today I'd Much Rather Bake Than... is two years old - my official blogiversary. As an excuse to extend the celebrations and bake more cake though I decided to have an eight day blogiversary and which I started to rejoice over with this Cherry and Chocolate Orange Weetabix Cake. The post also in part explains my reasonings behind going overboard on an occasion which most people pass by with a brief regal wave, yet one in which I'm making a huge fuss over - namely in year 1 I didn't keep up blogging for very long but in year 2 I embraced it as wholeheartedly as time allowed. The other reason is that I'm still amazed my how much I have learned and all the support I have received from other bloggers - it all makes me gushily happy and there is only one way to make merry over it all. With cake.

I'm pretty pleased with this cake for a number of reasons. First, a beautiful, even rise. I'm of the unhumble opinion that it even looks good uniced.

I adapted a my mum's chocolate cake recipe, the one which is brought out time and time again, and I think I managed to make it that tiny bit better. The secret? I used oil instead of tub margarine. I tested the theory out a while back just as unadorned cupcakes and they turned out brilliantly, so much so that Mum actually said to me she might have to try it herself. My mother never plays around with recipes she thinks are good as they are. That speaks volumes in itself. Next I added icing. Chocolate chip cookie dough icing (alright, frosting, whatever you prefer). Yes I did.

Finally I crumbled up a Cadbury Twirl (a Flake would be just as goo) and sprinkled it into my mouth over the top and added some Maltesers. I might have eaten a few or more of those too in the process.

I was so pleased with my Cherry and Chocolate Orange Weetabix Cake because Weetabix Cake was my first ever post and it finally gave me the chance to revisit a recipe and make the adaptations I suggested at the time. That rarely happens with me. Too many other recipe ideas come along before I get the chance!

But this cake is something else. I couldn't let my such a date go by and not make something extravgent with chocolate. Just consider that this is actually the reigned in version. It was going to be chocolate wasted cupcakes until I realised just how many of the ingredients I would eat during the construction.

I wasn't going for neat and tiday with this bake. To be honest I never am because I'm always too eager to get down to the eating of the cake without the fuss of making things picture perfect. That would be too much time wasted when I could be enjoying my efforts.

The result was everything it ought to have been. A moist and airy base with none of the bitterness that usually accompanies such a deeply brooding chocolate spirit.

Reverberating caramel tones and a lushiously creamy, feathery light icing which provides a legitimate excuse to eat all the chocolate chip cookie dough you can manage.

Finally, adorned with  a heavy sprinkling of crumbled flaky chocolate ribbons and bold Maltesers.

What's more, the whole recipe is fun create and quick to produce. An all in one method in a traybake form requires only the minimum of mixing to combine ingredients then a swirling sheet of icing and a flourishing finish of chocolate. I promised cake at uni this week and I'm pretty sure this delivered. 

Judging by how many people came back for seconds and the gentle rattle of crumbs in the tin as I walked home I made a lot of people happy,  including myself and that can only be a good thing. Here's to the next year. May cake reign strong.

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Chocolate Traybake with Chocolate Chip Brown Sugar Cookie Dough Icing

by Laura June-5-2014

The very best deeply chocolatey chocolate cake bases topped with luxurious chocolate chip cookie dough icing intensified by the caramel notes of brown sugar and finished off with a heavy sprinkling of chocolate sweeties.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 170g caster sugar
• 7 tbsp sunflower or olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 120 ml milk mixed with 1 dsp vinegar and 2 tsp instant coffee granules
• 155g self-raising flour
• 0.75 tsp baking powder
• 0.75 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 45g cocoa

For the icing:

• 100g butter, softened
• 125g dark soft brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 125g plain flour
• 60 ml milk
• 75g chocolate, chopped

To finish:

• 1 Cadbury Twirl, crumbled
• 1 small bag Maltesers

Instructions

1. Set the oven to 170 C/150 C fan and line a traybake tin approximately 26cm x 20cm.2. Place all the cake ingredients into a bowl and mix together with an electric whisk until evenly combined. This shouldn't take long as you don't want to over mix.3. Pour the mixture into the tin, level and bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 mins until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack then remove from the tin.4. For the icing, beat the butter until creamy then beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla followed by the flour and beat on high until really fluffy. Fold in the chopped chocolate carefully. 5. Spread the icing onto the cake and sprinkle over the crumbled Twirl then the Maltesers. Cut into sqaures and serve.

Icing adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

P.S. I'm sharing this post with a new blogging link party, Cook, Blog, Share, by Lucy at Supergolden Bakes. Pop over and have a nosey at all the other bakes that have joined in!