i need to make a large chocolate cake - to feed about 35 children

[nailpolish]

would quite like a large rectange shaped one

am shite at baking

also i think i will need a new cake tin - how big should i buy?

I do Marslady's lemon drizzle - the chocolate version - in a big roasting tin about the width of my oven

it makes quite a low cake, but you could double up and increase the cooking time

do you have a roasting tin

erm yes but it has had beef and chicken etc in it...

do you ahve the recipe pretty please

also - ive dooubled up recipes in the past and it NEVER works - will this one

ALSO - when should i make it
day before?
2 days before?

The Hairy Bakers did a giant version of this - seemed to be normal sized tins but 4 of them, so lots of layers. Looked v impressive but I've not tried the recipe myself.

this is what Mars says mit the lemon and pop 3-4 tbs of cocoa powder to make a choccie cake. Melt a large bar of chocolate add a dollop of oil and pour over cake! Leave to set.

I don't do the melting thing

I do however put an extra couple of tbsps milk in it

day before for cake I'd say

no idea for doubling up, I don't have that many friends

i suppose i could make 2 and join them together

Sorry forgot link

omg capp neither do i!

its for the dds joint birthday party

that is a LOT of chocolate for 5 yr olds

thanks hassled
i love the hairy bakers - i might try that one

I would'nt double a mix, in my experiance its hard to cook a very large cake and it may burn on the top/raw in the middle and sometimes will sink.
I would make 2 smaller cakes, you could always stick them together.

I have just made a ladybird cake, where i doubled the mix, it was very hard to cook, took over 1 hour and was dry on the outside and still sticky in the middle. I have still used it (just putting pics on my proffile)

Good luck

it do esnt have to taste brilliant - its only for a bairns party

the hairy babker say for the larger cake double to quantities and bake in 2 speperate tins
so would i sandwhich the 2 seperate cakes together?

i dont really want to use cream and jam for the filling - could i use buttercream and jam?????

i suppose i could make chocolate buttercram

Butter cream would be good.

I would make one big mix and stick in 2 tins, stick it together with butter cream (yummy)

Hi nailpolish - I use this recipe to make a cake that fills a 10x10 inch baking tin that's 3 inches deep - the recipe is dead easy, it cooks okay & it always tastes nice! You can use half plain/half milk chocolate or all milk if you want it to be less chocolatey.

Also included the icing recipe - haven't made it myself but others have & say it's delicious.

375g self-raising flour
375g unrefined soft brown sugar
75g cocoa
375g plain chocolate
375g butter
6 eggs

1. Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Line a 10x10 inch square cake tin.

1. Mix the flour, sugar and cocoa together in a bowl. Melt the chocolate and butter together with 200ml water in a pan and then beat this along with the eggs into the dry mixture. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean. It may crack a little on top but this will be covered by the icing. Cool.

ICING

• 400g plain or milk chocolate
• 284ml pot single cream
• 25g butter
• 100-200g icing sugar
• cocoa powder for dusting

1. To make the icing, melt the chocolate with the cream and butter until smooth and then cool to a spreadable consistency (wait till it's completely cold or the icing sugar will melt and it doesn't work), beat in enough icing sugar to make the icing opaque and stiff.

1. Slice the cake horizontally into 2 or 3 layers and spread some icing between each layer. Ice the outside of the cake in a thick even layer and smooth the icing down as much as possible, don't worry about the top too much.

1. Dust with cocoa powder just before serving.

THANKS

that does seem easy - feel bit better now!

will do practice run this weekend i think

do you line the tin with greaseproof?

Yes - I have a non-stick tin, but I still line it.

It's a lovely recipe - hope it works for you - make sure you give us an update!

ok

party is 2 weeks away

wold you make it the night before?

What I do is make the cake the night before then, when it's cooled from the oven, cover it so it doesn't go stale (I put the tin I baked it in back over it), then decorate it in the morning.

Are you going for complex decorations or the smother-it-in-jelly-tots-and-smarties option?

not sure about dec yet! the dds wont really care too much

any ideas?

If your dds aren't bothered (lucky you - my ds is very specific and demanding about birthday cakes!), I would keep it simple - the icing in the recipe is fairly sticky/fudgey, so you can stick things onto it - or butter icing would do just as well.

Rows of smarties / dolly mixtures / jelly tots would look good and it would be easy to cut

its a joint cake so i should maybe do half and half decoration to stop them fighting over it!

they dotn really care as long as its chocolate they said

Also, this cake is lovely, but it can come out a bit rounded / cracked on top - so a decorating scheme that allows for you to slice a half-inch or so off the top to even it out a bit if needed, and cover the top with a nice thick layer of butter icing, is a good plan

great!

thanks so much

can i make this cake by hand btw? i dont have a mixer

welli have a hand mixer

Oh god NP just buy one from Costco lol

I am obv a lazy slattern cos that's what i do!!

They are only a tenner too.