Pink Prosecco Cake With Chocolate Truffle Frosting Food

PROSECCO CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Butter the inside of 2 deep, loose bottomed 21cm tins. Cream the butter and sugar together with electric beaters until it is light and fluffy, then gradually beat in the eggs a little at a time. Fold in the flour and a pinch of salt, don't worry if the mixture look like it has split, it will come back together when the flour is added. Pour in the Prosecco and stir until smooth.
• Spoon the mixture into the tins, level the top and bake for 45-50 mins or until the cakes are well-risen and golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then turn them out onto a rack.
• While the cakes cool, make the icing. Beat the butter with the icing sugar until it is smooth. Add the Prosecco and beat again until the frosting is fluffy and smooth.
• Level the cakes if you need to and spread the raspberry jam on one of the cakes followed by some of the butter cream, sandwich the other cake on top. Roughly ice the cake all over in a very thin layer with a couple of tablespoons of buttercream, this will help all the crumbs stick to the cake and help make the outer layer of icing nice and clean. Ice the cake all over with the remaining buttercream, this can be quite rough because you are going to stick sweet all over it. Now stick sweets all over it. Go mad. Drink Prosecco with it.

PINK PROSECCO CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE FROSTING

Steps:

• For the pink prosecco cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 10-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray and line with parchment paper.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
• Combine the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. (Don't skip this step!)
• Add the eggs, one at a time, waiting until each one is completely combined before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla, red food coloring, milk, prosecco and raspberry liqueur. Stir in the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until just combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake until golden and the cake slightly pulls away from the sides, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool the cakes in their pans for 10 minutes, then flip them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the chocolate truffle frosting: While the cakes bake, heat the heavy cream in a medium saucepan until bubbles begin to form. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the chocolate chips and salt until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
• To assemble the cake: Place one cake layer on a serving dish or cake stand. Spread the raspberry jam on top of the cake. Put a generous spoonful of the chocolate frosting on top and spread it to the edges. Put the cake in the refrigerator to set. Once set, add the second cake layer and finish frosting the sides and top of the cake with the remaining chocolate frosting. Decorate as desired.

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE FROSTING

Steps:

• Whip the heavy cream until stiff.
• Melt the chocolate over a double boiler.
• When the chocolate has melted, add the butter and stir until the butter melts.
• Allow the mixture to cool a bit.
• Add the whipped cream, the powdered sugar and cognac or coffee (if using), stir to combine.
• If the frosting is very liquid-y at this point, let it sit in the fridge until it becomes thicker and spreadable.
• Frost your cake and transfer to the fridge, allow the frosting to set before serving.

PROSECCO TRUFFLES

Steps:

• Put the cream and butter in a saucepan. Heat gently until the butter has melted and the mixture starts to simmer. Put both types of chocolate into a large heatproof bowl then pour the hot cream mixture on top of the chocolate. Leave to sit for a minute or two then stir until all the chocolate has melted, finally stir in the prosecco. Chill the mixture for 4 hours or overnight if you can.
• Line baking trays with foil. Pipe the mixture, shaping into 25 small balls on the trays. Now put the trays in the freezer for 1 hr or until you're ready to serve them. Put the milk chocolate for coating into a heatproof bowl and heat in the microwave until melted, stirring after every 30-second blast. Alternatively set the bowl over a pan of simmering water to gently melt the chocolate. Drop a frozen truffle into the melted chocolate and turn it over with a spoon to coat it, then place back onto the foil-lined tray. Repeat with the rest of the truffles. The coating should set in about 5-10 mins.
• Once set, dust a plate or bowl with icing sugar then roll a truffle around on it to coat. Repeat with the rest of the truffles, re-dusting the plate when necessary, then place into boxes or on a plate to serve.

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/ gas mark 4 and prepare the cake tin: using a tin measuring 8 inches (20cm)in diameter, 3 inches (7.5cm) deep, lightly oil the cake tin, line the base and sides with baking parchment and oil again, dust the sides with 1 tablespoon each of flour and sugar (this additional flour/sugar is extra to the quantities listed above).
• In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla extract together with an electric whisk for at least 5 minutes - so that it is light and creamy; add the eggs, beating the mix well as you add each egg; beat in the soured cream and milk - it may look curdled, but don't worry this is fine!
• Sieve flours and cocoa together in a separate bowl then sprinkle half over the cake mix; fold in with a metal spoon; sprinkle and fold in the second half.
• Gently spoon the cake mix into the cake tin and make a shallow hollow in the middle with the back of the spoon: bake on the middle shelf for 50 minutes then cover with a double layer of wet baking parchment (to stop the top of the cake overbrowning) and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes - the cake is baked when it's risen and a fine skewer put in the middle comes out clean: remove from the oven and leave the cake to cool in its tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack, best/flattest side up.
• To make the truffle icing, put the chocolate and butter in a small heatproof bowl and set it over a pan of just simmering water - the bowl must not touch the water: melt the chocolate/butter mix over the water for about 5 minutes then remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool to 15 minutes: stir in the cream and leave the chocolate mix to cool for about 20-30 minutes so that the icing will be thick enough to coat the cake without the icing running off: pour truffle icing over the cake and spread it over the top and sides.
• To make the almond decoration, first lightly toast the almonds on a baking sheet in the oven at 350°F/180°C/ gas mark 4 for 5 minutes, turning them over half way through; remove and leave to cool: while they are cooling melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted, dip the almonds into the chocolate and lay out to dry on baking parchment - about 30 minutes: when dry repeat the process with the white chocolate, but this time arrange the almonds on top of the cake after dipping, the heat of the white chocolate will start to melt the first coat of chocolate on the almonds and you'll get a marbled finish, drizzle any left over melted chocolate over the almonds.
• Leave decoration to cool before serving, then watch the cake 'vanish' before your very eyes!