This deliciously indulgent, grown-up chocolate and burnt butterscotch cake looks really impressive and is definitely worth the effort
Ingreadient
- 200g dark chocolate
- 200g butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 tbsp mixed with 120ml water instant coffee
- 3 medium eggs
- 2 tbsp buttermilk
- 100g self-raising flour
- 100g plain flour
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 300g golden caster sugar
- 25g cocoa powder
- 200g golden caster sugar
- 100g soft light brown sugar
- 90g butter
- 400ml double cream
- 250ml mascarpone
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp Kahlúa or other coffee liqueur
Direction
- Butter and line the base of a 19cm x 7cm deep springform cake tin. Break the chocolate into a pan, add the butter and coffee mixture and warm through over a low heat until it melts together. Beat the eggs in a bowl until they slightly thicken, then stir in the buttermilk. Sift the flours, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and cocoa into another mixing bowl.
- Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Pour the chocolate and egg mixtures into the flour mixture, and stir until everything is mixed and smooth. Pour this into the prepared tin and bake for 1½ hours in the oven, or until a skewer pushed in comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut horizontally into three discs.
- For the butterscotch cream, melt the caster sugar in a small saucepan until it starts to caramelise, then leave a little longer until it starts to turn a ruby red colour. Watch it carefully – you don’t want it to burn. Remove from the heat, and whisk in the brown sugar and butter, followed by 100ml of the cream in a thin stream, while still whisking. Return to the heat and bring to a foamy boil for about 5 minutes, whisking occasionally until all the sugar has dissolved and there are no lumps. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
- Beat the remaining double cream with the vanilla extract and coffee liqueur to soft peak stage, then fold in the mascarpone and ¾ of the burnt butterscotch mixture.
- Spread each layer of cake with butterscotch cream and sandwich them together. Heat the remaining butterscotch really gently in a pan (or in the microwave) until it’s just runny enough to drizzle, but not too warm or the cream will melt.
- Top the cake with the reserved burnt butterscotch sauce, allowing some to fall down the sides.
