The Seven Deadly Sins Chocolate Cake

This cake is the essence of all evil. It's BAD very bad. Chocolate covered biscuits, chocolate butter cream (lots of it), brightly coloured candy coated chocolate. Never mind Devils Food Cake. This stuff is demonic. Be warned - it's serious fun and would make a stonking birthday cake - but is a serious chocolate overload.

One good thing is that it is very easy to portion. The sides of the cake are made up of 2 finger bars of Kitkats, held into place with a copious amount of chocolate buttercream. The main part of the cake is a chocolate sponge, split with chocolate buttercream in the middle.

It's actually very simple to make !

Chocolate Cake Recipe

grease and flour or grease and line a two 8" round baking tins - preferably spring form.

• 2 cups white caster sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• 
  

I use a cup with 250ml volume

Combine all wet ingredients. Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add wet ingredients and mix until combined.

 Bake in an oven at 180deg / Gas mark 4. I used 170deg Fan oven.

When cooked (approx 30 mins), remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Chocolate Buttercream Recipe

4 cups icing sugar

115g salted butter (soft)

1 tsp vanilla extract

50g cocoa powder

1/4 cup milk

1 cup dark chocolate chips (melted)

Beat the butter and add icing sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder and milk. Beat until smooth and creamy. It is best to use a mixer, and beat for at least 5 mins. All melted chocolate and beat in. If the buttercream is too thick at this point, add some extra milk.

Split the cake in half. Spread some buttercream on one half and sandwich the rest together. Use the rest of the buttercream to cover the top and sides of the cake.

You will need 2 packs of 2 finger Kitkats (I think that's 16 bars) plus an extra finger. Alternatively, you could use  our new Chocolate fingers / dipping sticks silicone mould and make your own ! As kids, we were always overjoyed if we got a Kitkat finger which was solid chocolate with no wafer.

Here are some subtitles for the above video. A toddler speaking in a silly voice isn't always the easiest to understand.

"Hello Bloggers. My name is Oliver and I DO like chocolate cake !!"

Stick the chocolate fingers round the outside of the cake and secure in place with a ribbon. Fill the top part (as full as you want) with Smarties or M&M's. We used just one packet of M&M's. They only just covered the top - but that was plenty candy !

I guess you are wondering why seven deadly sins... Well Oliver had been baking with me as you can see. However, just after this little video (whilst I was taking photos) he decided to go to the chicken coop and collect the eggs.

Naughty Oliver purposely broke 5 eggs. He had enjoyed cracking them on the morning to make the cake far too much ! That's got to be 5 sins..... After that, he decided to get his little chair, go down the back of the coop and try to climb up and pull unripe apples off the tree. The chair went over backwards. Oliver landed in the nettles.... He did get a telling off and no chocolate cake - though to be honest, I found it very hard to be angry with him and he needed lots of cuddles due to the nettle stings. The seventh was for tipping out an entire bottle of bubble bath in the bath.... Tired Oliver = naughty Oliver. Mummy should have known better. That witching time of day just before dinner and bed

Penance was that the chocolate cake was not to be cut that evening. Naughty boys don't get chocolate cake. The seventh sin was mine. Oliver got chocolate cake for breakfast the next morning and promised not to break any more eggs (on purpose that is...)

Sarah-Jane Nash (and Oliver age 2.3/4) - July 11