Gooey Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

aka "Boyfriend Birthday Cake"

Call me old school, but I just love baking someone a birthday cake and isn't the way to a mans heart through their stomach? or is that just an old wife's tale??

Either way, when my friend suggested baking her boyfriend a cake (Happy Birthday Will) I jumped at the chance.

Now, in my experience theres not many people who can resist a good chocolate cake; men and women alike. However, I have noticed a huge difference between the sexes and this sweet ingredient. 

Men eat chocolate like its no big deal; a chocolate bar in two bites, a box of chocolates in one sitting. Whereas us women, well the evidence is currently sitting in my bedroom; a selection box still intact from christmas.  We like to saver it, eat it slowly and have it there for "just" that moment when we need it. 

Either way, a chocolate birthday cake is always a safe bet. 

I wanted the cake to be dark brown in colour with a contrasting filling, so I went for a cream cheese frosting and for the top,  piped royal icing with dark chocolate drops. 

It went down a treat with both boyfriend and girlfriend and we had a laugh making it too.

Read more for the recipe and try it next time your man... or woman turns that bit older (sorry Will) or just when you need a good chocolate fix.

Recipe: 

Serves 8

Cake ingredients:

175g - Self-raising flour, sifted

3 tbsp - Cocoa powder

175g - unsalted butter (I used stork)

175g - golden caster sugar (I just used granulated)

1 tsp - Baking powder

3 - Eggs

Method:


1) Cream the butter and sugar




2) Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk.




3) Slowly add the eggs to the butter and sugar


4) Sift the flour, baking power, pinch of salt and cocoa powder together.

5) Slowly, fold the flour mixture into the butter, sugar and eggs. 




6) Add to two cake tins and bake for 30mins at 180C (fan oven) 




Cream Cheese Frosting:                             Method:


250g - Cream Cheese                 7) Mix the cream cheese and 
100g - Butter                             butter, then add icing sugar
400g - Icing Sugar          

                                      (put in the fridge till the cakes are            cooked and completely cooled)

8) Take the cakes out when cooked, remove from tins and allow to completely cool




9) Use a ready made royal icing piping tube and pipe your design on the top of the cake.
(alternatively, make your own Royal Icing and use a piping bag)   






10) Sprinkle on the dark chocolate chips




  
11) Add the cream cheese frosting to the other cake top 


12) Put the cake together 




...... Voila, ready to eat!