Chocolate rolo cakes. The holes are from birthday candles
I’ve been trying to post the recipe for this cake for quite a few days now, but life, as they say, has gotten in the way. I actually made this cake for my friend Dan’s birthday nearly two weeks ago and have only just managed to get myself a cup of tea, sit down in my laptop and write this thing up. Good things, however, come to those who wait. Or so the phrase goes.
I have a bit of a tradition of making vertiginous chocolate cakes for Dan’s birthday, getting more and more elaborate each year. This year, I was struggling to find something to top the Chocolate Behemoth of 2013, until I came across this rolo cake by the brilliant Raspberri Cupcakes. If you have not yet visited this beautiful baking blog, prepare yourself to feel both inspired and completely inadequate all at once. Her cakes truly are masterpieces.
This particular creation is a rich chocolate brownie cake, sandwiched with a thick salted caramel and covered with a glossy slick of chocolate ganache. As if that isn’t decadent enough, it has the added surprise of having a whole packet of rolos baked into each of the two cake layers; which melt a little to create pockets of caramel within the cake. And more rolos piled on the top, natch.
To be honest, it really is best not to think too much about the ingredients for this cake. Especially the 400g of butter. Being the evil feeder that I am I also neglected to mention to my dining companions that it probably had hundreds and hundreds of calories per slice. Especially those who went for second helpings.
A little bit about making caramel: in short, don’t bother. I’ve tried every method from heating sugar to boiling condensed milk and both are time-consuming and fraught with hazards. Use pre-made caramel or dulce de leche. Carnation make one in a 397g tin that is just perfect.
Chocolate Rolo Cake
For the cake
400g unsalted butter
200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
4 large eggs
200g caster sugar
200g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 tubes rolos
For the filling
1 x 397g tin of carnation caramel
½ tsp sea salt
For the ganache
200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
200g milk chocolate, broken into pieces
300ml double cream
To decorate
4 tubes rolos, each sweet cut in half
Preheat the oven to 150ºc. Grease two 8inch sandwich tins and baseline with greaseproof paper.
Melt the butter and sugar in a glass bowl set over a pan of simmering water and set aside to cool. In the bowl of a freestanding mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar until thick and pale. Fold through the chocolate mixture and then gently fold in the flour and baking powder until just combined.
Scrape the batter into the prepared tins. Push the rolos into the surface of the cake mixture and bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. The cake will have shrunken away from the edges of the tin but may still have a slight wobble in the centre. Allow to cool completely in the tin before transferring to a wire rack until needed.
Stir the sea salt into the caramel and, using a palette knife, spread a thick layer over one of the cooled cakes. Place the other layer on top. Reserve a small amount of the caramel to spread thinly over the top and sides of the cake. This will help the ganache to ‘stick’. Chill the cake in the fridge for at least half an hour.
Meanwhile, make the ganache. Place the chopped milk and dark chocolate in a large bowl. In a saucepan, heat the cream until it just reaches boiling point. Pour the cream over the chocolate and leave to sit for a couple of minutes. Stir with a balloon whisk and the chocolate will melt into the cream to form a smooth, thick ganache. Allow to cool.
Place the chilled cake on a rack over a tray. Pour over the cooled ganache, using a palette knife to spread it out. It should coat the cake evenly and any excess will be caught in the tray below. Stack the chopped rolos on top. Transfer to the fridge to set the ganache, but be sure to bring it to room temperature before serving.
Adapted from a recipe by Raspberri Cupcakes.
The Boozy Rouge 