Mud cakes are ideal for cake decorating as they are dense enough to hold heavy icing, have an excellent shelf life which allows you to take your time with the decorating process and are very popular!
Ingredients
300g unsalted butter
270ml water
300g white couverture chocolate
300g plain flour
150g self raising flour
400g caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease an 8" (20cm) round or 7" (17.5cm) square tin and line the base and sides with a collar of baking paper that extends 2cm above the top of the tin. Put the butter and water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the butter has melted. Turn off the heat, then add the chocolate and stir until it has melted and is well combined.
- Sift the flours together in a large bowl. Add the sugar and a pinch of salt and make a well in the centre
- Pour the chocolate mixture, egg and vanilla into the well then stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
- Pour into the cake tin. Bake for 1 hour 40 minutes or until cake is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when poked into the middle of the cake. Cover with foil if the cake is browning too quickly.
Baking tips: For even baking, a flower nail placed in the bottom of the tin to conduct heat through the centre of the cake, baking belts around the outside of the tin and a foil lid over the top of the tin will all help prevent the outside from cooking before the centre of the cake.
Storage: Wrap twice in cling film and keep at room temperature if using soon or can be stored in the fridge for 1 week. This cake is also suitable for freezing, add a layer of foil over the two layers of cling film for freezing. Can be frozen for up to 1 month. When defrosting, leave cake wrapped in the cling film and foil until it returns to room temperature.
Recipe from Planet Cake, Paris Cutler, Murdoch Books, 2009