About the bake
The base of the cake is a simple chocolate sponge cake which we've decorated with Smarties. Smarties are really easy to stick onto the cake because we've included a little golden syrup into the icing mixture. The smarties stick really well and don't bleed on the icing. Don't worry if you haven't got any Smarties, you can always use M&Ms or Skittles, just use your imagination. Lining up the Smarites in a uniform way across the cake makes for a lovely rainbow effect.
Method
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C, 350°F, gas mark 4). Grease and line a 20cm square baking tin.
Step 2:
Mix the cocoa with the boiling water. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda and set aside to cool.
Step 3:
Whisk the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla in a mixing bowl until blended. Fold in the flour and the cocoa mixture until smooth.
Step 4:
Pour into the tin and bake for 40 minutes until risen and firm to the touch. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Step 5:
For the icing, melt the butter and golden syrup together with 1 tbsp water. Beat in the icing sugar, to make a smooth icing. Add a little extra boiling water if needed. Spread over top and sides of the cool cake.
Step 6:
Decorate the top and sides with a pattern of Smarties and leave to set.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 75g Cocoa powder
- 200ml Boiling water
- 3 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 4 Eggs
- 370g Billington's Unrefined Dark Muscovado Sugar
- 180ml Sunflower oil
- 1 tsp Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract
- 275g Allinson's Self Raising White Flour
For the Decoration
- 2 tbsp Cocoa powder
- 50g Unsalted butter (softened)
- 2 tbsp Golden syrup
- 300g Silver Spoon Icing Sugar
- 300g Chocolate decorations (approx 8 tubes)
Utensils
- 20cm square baking tin
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Cooling rack
Recipe Reviews
Oh and the icing is like actual fudge that’s impossible to spread. I thinned it out milk and it worked okay but impossible to spread otherwise.
Hmmm… so I’ve made this recipe a few times now. It’s a lovely moist chocolate cake that’s easy to make. However, the dark muscavado is really lumpy and those lumps don’t disperse, even during cooking. The lumps sunk to the bottom of the cake and left big holes. Also, add the flour in slowly, whisking it in as you go, not in all at once otherwise you’ll get lumps that don’t disperse and remain.
Make sure you mix the bicarbonate, cocoa and water mixture in a large bowl or jug because it expands, a lot!
Hi, sorry to hear about your challenges with the sugar. Due to the natural molasses content in the Dark Muscovado sometimes it can become solid in the pack or have clumps when you come to baking. A quick tip that might help (and means you still get the delicious rich flavour using this sugar) is to soften your sugar in the microwave or oven. A couple of quick bursts (a few seconds) with the sugar in a microwavable bowl covered in a damp kitchen towel the sugar will soften it and it will then be much easier to bake with.
the best
5 star cause i can
Really good results.I got a rich,chocolate skittle cake!
Really surprising results.
I love this recipe and have made it several times and decorated just with icing and sprinkles.
This is a very moist chocolate cake ❤️
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 75g Cocoa powder
- 200ml Boiling water
- 3 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 4 Eggs
- 370g Billington's Unrefined Dark Muscovado Sugar
- 180ml Sunflower oil
- 1 tsp Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract
- 275g Allinson's Self Raising White Flour
For the Decoration
- 2 tbsp Cocoa powder
- 50g Unsalted butter (softened)
- 2 tbsp Golden syrup
- 300g Silver Spoon Icing Sugar
- 300g Chocolate decorations (approx 8 tubes)
Utensils
- 20cm square baking tin
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Cooling rack