There’s something quite special about fudge cake, it’s squidgy, moist and ridiculously yummy served warm with lashings of double cream. It almost crosses the line between a pudding and a cake and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a complicated dessert to master. Always keen to share my love of Chocolate I decided to bring you my easy Chocolate fudge cake recipe. It’s filled with a yummy chocolate buttercream and topped with ganache, a cake to satisfy the most serious of chocolate cravings!
The Cake
225g / 8oz Self Raising Flour
225g / 8oz Caster Sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp Cocoa powder
1 Tsp Baking Powder
2 1/2 Tbsp Golden Syrup
3 Medium Eggs
200ml Sunflower Oil
200ml Milk
In a large mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients. Make a dip or well in the centre and add the eggs, golden syrup, milk and oil and beat together until smooth.
Pour into two greased sandwich cake tins and bake in a preheated over at 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4 for approximately 30 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
Chocolate Buttercream Centre
225g / 8oz Butter
85g / 3oz Melted Dark Chocolate
500g / 17oz Icing Sugar
3 Tbsp Milk
Blend the butter together with the melted chocolate, then gradually mix in the icing sugar. The mixture will become fairly stiff and dry looking. Gradually add in the milk until the buttercream becomes a spreadable consistency.
Sandwich the cooled cakes together using the buttercream
Semi Sweet Ganache Topping
150ml Double Cream
80g / 3oz Milk Chocolate
80g / 3oz Dark Chocolate
Warm the cream slowly on the cooker hob. Chop the chocolate into pieces and add to the cream. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Cool slightly before pouring over the cake. The cake then needs to be kept in a refrigerator.
Tip 1. If you want to go all out sweetness you can swap the semi sweet ganache for a full milk chocolate ganache.
Tip 2. I pour the entire ganache on top of the cake and let it ooze down the sides to the base. For a neater looking cake you can be more conservative with the topping. For me though it’s all about the taste with this one!
During the weekend 23rd – 25th May 2015 the Here and There Art Walk is due to take place in Belper Parks wood in Derbyshire. Artists of all kinds have been encouraged to join in with this event and artwork should be popping up amongst the trees for all to see. Rather than getting out my pen and paper I’m joining in with the yarn bomb inspired by the Woollen Woods event taking place countrywide. All manner of knitted woodland creatures will be taking up residence in the branches and it’s sure to be a welcome sight for any families, dog walkers or art trail visitors.
Unfortunately my contribution is rather tiny at the moment. I’ve got no excuse really, I just keep forgetting to knit! In fact my knitting has been so slow to progress, that you might be forgiven thinking I was trying to break some kind of world record for the slowest growth of stitches! I have contributed a mouse so far (he’s quite small though) and I’ve been knitting a squirrel forever, so long in fact that I thought he was a fox until I double checked the pattern and realised I’d forgotten what I was making. At this rate I really should be knitting a snail!
If you want to get involved (and you’re faster than me) there’s still time to knit, crochet or otherwise combine textiles to be included in the woods. All you need to do is get in contact with the Yarn bombing organiser Anne Clark of Anne Clark Handmade and I’m sure she’d love to see your efforts.
If you don’t fancy getting involved with making any of the creatures then do pop along to see them all in situ, hopefully the weather will be good but the knitting should be at least partially protected from any rain under the leaves and branches.
I thought we’d start today’s post with a sing-a-long. My rhyme is sung to the tune of Thomas the Tank Engine’s theme song (we’re two, we’re four, we’re six, we’re eight, counting trucks and hauling freight…) and sums up the brilliant time my family had at the opening of the Thomas Land expansion at Drayton Manor Theme Park. So here we go…
‘We’re one, we’re two, we’re three, we’re more, gone to Drayton for a tour, of the brand new Thomas Land, its got bigger and so grand! With some brand new rides to play, we had a merry lively day, Thomas makes us really glad, for the fun we had.’
On the 8th April Bloggers and VIPs made their way to the grand opening of the Thomas Land expansion at Drayton Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire. The expansion has seen Thomas Land grow 40% in size and gain three brand new rides, an airport café, band stand and even old fashioned fairground games.
My little engine drivers were completely over excited when the day finally arrived and we stepped foot into Thomas Land. They’ve all loved the programs, books and toys and of course when you throw rides into the mix you’re guaranteed a fabulous day out. I on the other hand was rather apprehensive, the opening took place during the Easter holidays and I was imagining queues and chaos everywhere I looked. Admittedly Thomas Land got a bit crowded once it opened to the public, but chaotic it was not. All the rides were easily accessible and our longest wait was 15 minutes which as any theme park visitor will tell you is really not a long time. I was also seriously impressed with the staff. We had Granny along for the adventure and at one point she dropped a box of popcorn while holding too many things. She came to grab me to go back and help scoop it up but when we turned around it was already being swept away by a diligent member of Thomas Land’s crew, now that’s an efficient service! On to the new rides…
Flynn’s Fire & Rescue
In Flynn’s new ride would-be firefighters climb aboard a fire engine and shoot water at a burning tower (no real fire though parents). The cherry picker goes up and down as you try and aim the water through holes in the tower sides. Younger firefighters can ride along in the engine below. This was by far my youngest favourite ride and we had several goes, a word of warning though you may get splashed!
Captain’s Sea Adventure
Climb aboard Captain as he twirls in circles around the centre of the ride. Crank your water cannon and try to shoot everyone in the boats nearby or even those waiting in the queue! My eldest two loved this ride and had several turns until they had perfected their watery aim.
Toby’s Tram Express
I would love to be able to give you a detailed description of Toby’s new ride but unfortunately while he was working initially, he’d had a few teething problems and we never got to have a go. From what we saw he rises into the air and swings around for a thrilling aerial adventure.
A short video
I took a few videos of all our fun and you can see a small selection here (including a talking Cockatoo!)
Other new additions
The Blue Mountain Engines now have Merrick overseeing their journey, which really brings the ride to life.
Sodor Airport sits at the heart of the expansion and offers views across the park from its balcony. A café below is a welcome respite for any weary parents and is situated right by Jeremy Jet’s Flying Academy which looks perfectly at home in its new position. Incidentally this is my daughter’s favourite ride 🙂
After a ride on Thomas and the Troublesome trucks overseen by Cranky the Crane, Granny and Mummy were feeling rather tired so we popped into the Thomas Soft Play Centre which is located by the large gift shop. Comfy sofas were provided for the parents while the kids had a fabulous time climbing and sliding within this brilliantly equipped play area.
Drayton has much more to offer for the whole family but it would easily take me another post to cover even some of it. There’s a zoo, 4d cinema, rides aplenty and even a Dino World. Suffice to say another visit will have to be planned!
For more information
Visit Thomas Land online for more details and to book early bird price tickets.
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