Orange & White Chocolate Mouse Cake

No, you haven't misread the title, this really is a White Chocolate Mouse cake. I've always loved the kitsch look of chocolate mice, and the idea of using them to decorate my friend Jules's birthday cake made me smile. The home made mice sank into the scrumptious white chocolate icing to make it taste especially, naughtily, rich. This is a very sweet cake, so to add a sharper note and to balance the chocolate I layered the orange cakes with a good marmalade.

Appropriately enough, the whisking for this bake was interrupted by Nico our kitten bringing in a live mouse, which I then chased around the house to save from her clutches. The half beaten eggs were not happy about their neglect, and declined to help the cake rise, but you'll be pleased to know that the mouse survived to live another day. Unlike the chocolate ones which were gobbled up by us in no time!

Recipe

Serves 8-10

White chocolate mice and cake base recipes my own. White chocolate icing recipe taken from the one by Barney Desmazery for his Orange & White Chocolate Sponge Cake recipe given at www.bbcgoodfood.com see the recipe here.


for the 3 white chocolate mice:
100g white chocolate, broken into pieces


1. Make the chocolate mice in advance. Gently melt 80g of the chocolate over a bain mairie, a heatproof bowl over a pan of just simmering water. Stir the chocolate, and when melted, add the extra 20g, taking it off the heat but continuing to stir until melted.

2. When all the white chocolate has melted smoothly, carefully spoon it into the silicone white mice moulds (I got mine from Lakeland). Place the filled moulds on a plate in the fridge for half an hour, before unmoulding. Don't touch them too much when unmoulding as the heat of your hands may soften them. When unmoulded, place the mice back in the fridge until ready to use.

for the cake bases:
200g unsalted butter, room temperature
200g caster sugar
225g flour
4 medium eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons half fat creme fraiche, room temperature
zest and juice of 1 large orange



3. Turn the oven to 170 (150C fan ovens) and grease and line two 18cm baking tins.


4. Cream the butter and sugar together with the orange zest.

5. Add the eggs, with a spoonful of flour, and beat well after each addition.

6. Sift in the flour, and stir until well combined, before gently folding in the creme fraiche, and orange juice.


7. Pour the batter into the prepared tins, and bake in the oven for approximately 45 minutes. You'll know the cakes are done when the tops bounce back under your finger and a skewer comes out clean.

8. Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for 15 minutes before placing on a wire rack or plate to cool fully.

for the filling and white chocolate icing:
300g/340g good marmalade
200g white chocolate, broken into small pieces
200ml half fat creme fraiche
the prepared white chocolate mice to decorate, optional
Queen dark chocolate fudge writing pen to decorate, optional



9. To make the white chocolate icing, gently melt the chocolate pieces as before over another bain mairie. Stir the chocolate and take off the heat as soon as it has melted, putting it one side to cool.

10. Whisk the creme fraiche until it thickens. Then pour in the cooled white chocolate, stirring until smooth.

11. When the cakes have cooled, place one topside down on a plate and spoon a thick layer of marmalade over the top. Next spoon over half the chocolate icing, before sandwiching with the second cake.

12. Take the white chocolate mice out of the fridge ready for use, and spread the rest of the icing over the top cake, before adding the mice and any other decoration such as the dark chocolate eyes and tails to the mice if you like. Place the cake in the fridge for an hour to let the icing set.

13. Take the cake out of the fridge a few minutes before serving. Trust me, with this one you won't need cream!

This cake was idly baked while listening to I'm A Good Woman: Funk Classics From Sassy Soul Sisters such as Gladys Knight, Laura Lee and Patti Jo

Dark Chocolate, Rum & Almond Birthday Cake

Birthday cakes come in all shapes and flavours, so for my younger brother's 30th birthday I decided to make a special boozy variation of his favourite childhood chocolate cake. Laced with rum and almonds, and topped off with a gorgeous rich dark ganache, this is a fabulous cake for any celebration, plus a lot of fun for an idle baker and little helpers to decorate.

Recipe
Serves 10-12
Recipe adapted from the Ultimate Chocolate Cake by Angela Nilsen at the BBC Good Food website, see the recipe here

for the 2 cake bases:

300g light muscovado sugar
200g butter, room temperature, chopped into small pieces
4 eggs, room temperature
25g cocoa powder
200g dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids, broken into small pieces
85g ground almonds
85g self raising flour
quarter of a teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons dark rum
75ml half fat creme fraiche



1. Turn the oven to 160C (140C fan ovens), and grease and line two 18cm or 20cm round baking tins.

2. Stir the chocolate pieces, butter, and rum in a pan over a low heat until melted. Put to one side to cool.

3. In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients (sugar, cocoa, almonds, bicarb and flour), stirring until combined. Make a well in the centre of the ingredients.

4. In another bowl, beat the eggs until light and frothy, before adding the creme fraiche.

5. Next fold in the chocolate mixture and the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring gently until just combined, to create a smooth batter.

6. Pour the batter evenly into the 2 prepared baking tins, and bake in the oven for about 1 hour 20 minutes. You'll know the cakes are done when a skewer comes out clean and the tops spring back under your thumb.

7. When baked, take the cakes out of the oven and leave to cool for 20 minutes in their tins, before placing on a wire rack or plates to cool further.

for the chocolate ganache icing:

300g dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids, broken into small pieces
378ml double cream
3 tablespoons golden caster sugar
180g flaked almonds
Queen white chocolate fudge writing pen to decorate, optional


8. To make the ganache,  place the chocolate pieces in a heat proof bowl.

9. Heat the double cream and caster sugar gently in a pan over low heat until it is about to boil, then quickly pour the mixture over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the ganache has come together smoothly. Cool briefly.

10. Meanwhile, place the flaked almonds in the oven to lightly toast for 10 minutes and then take out to cool.

11. When ready, place the first cake base upside down and spread a quarter of the ganache over it. Then sandwich it with the second cake, before spread the rest of the ganache around the sides and the top of the cake.

12. Press the toasted almond flakes around the sides of the cake, before piping ganache rosettes around the edge of the top using a piping bag. Leave the icing to set. If you want to hurry this process along just place the cake in the fridge for a while.

13. Just before serving, you can use melted white chocolate to write Happy Birthday if you wish to, but I cheated and used a simple writing fudge pen from Queen which I thoroughly recommend to all similarly idle bakers.


14. Serve with whipped cream. Keep any leftover cake in the fridge.

This cake was idly baked to the sounds of The Black Keys album El Camino.