Rich Chocolate Tray Bake with Feathered Icing
Makes 21 slices
- 50 g 2 oz cocoa powder
- 6 Tbs boiling water
- 100 g 4 oz softened butter
- 275 g 10 oz caster sugar
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 125 ml 4 oz milk
- 175 g 6 oz self-rising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3-4 Tbs warmed, sieved apricot jam
- 100 ml 4 oz heavy cream
- 200 g 7 oz milk chocolate for baking, finely chopped or grated
- 50 g 2 oz white chocolate, chopped
- Grease a 30 x 20 cm 12 x 8 in baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Measure the cocoa into a bowl, add the boiling water and mix until smooth.
- Add the butter and beat into the cocoa until smooth, then add the sugar, eggs, milk, flour, and baking powder and mix until combined.
- Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
- Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until well risen, just firm to a touch and shrinking away from the sides of the pan.
- Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out on to a wire rack and peel of the paper.
- Brush the top of the cake with the warmed jam and leave to cool completely.
- Warm the cream in a small pan until hot, then add the milk chocolate and stir until completely melted and smooth.
- Leave to cool a little so that it is a thick pouring consistency (this shouldn't take long but depends on room temperature).
- Pour the icing over the cake, spreading it out with a palette knife to cover the cake completely.
- Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler.
- Place the melted chocolate into a small piping bag and snip the end off the bag.
- Pipe lines down the length of the cake about 1 cm 1/2 in apart.
- Drag a toothpick through the white chocolate in opposite directions across the cake to give a feathered effect.
. Mary Berry Cooks. Page 294-296`. London: BBC Books, 2014.