Bruce Bogtrotter's Chocolate Indulgence

A scrumptious salted caramel chocolate checkerboard cake, now try saying that in one breath after a few drinks...or a chocolate overload! The fashion of salty sweetness is one of perfection in my eyes and the salted caramel of this cake works a beaut with the richness of the thick, glossy ganache. The salted caramel chocolate cake was first baked by my sister (another Bakes both in name and hobby) from the the Hummingbird Bakery's Cake Days recipe book as my birthday cake last year. Whilst both delicious and somehow around three times larger than the recipe ever intended, it was a painstakingly and unnecessarily complicated recipe including an extensive list of ingredients that didn't really make for the cake we hoped it would be. The original recipe if you fancy conquering it can be found here however for this cake we chose to take all the Hummingbird's best bits for a simplified but enhancedly delicious cake!

I baked this baby using half each of my basic tried and tested chocolate and vanilla recipes so we knew the cake was gunna be delish. Ok, so my first checkerboard cake wasn't a resounding success with the lines getting a little wobbly in places but rename it a zebra cake and I suppose its grand! The basic principal of a checkerboard cake is to take at least three cake tins of the same size, although I used four for a nice big Bruce Bogtrotter sized slice. You take equal quantities of chocolate and vanilla sponge mix into seperate piping bags and pipe in alternating ring from the outside in, simple? Now, it seems far more complicated than it is simple really is the word, as long as you begin with an outside ring of chocolate mix in two tins and vanilla as the outside ring in the other, layering them up alternately creates the impressive checkerboard effect. Top tips: it sounds obvious but make sure your piping bags are either cut to he same size or have the same size nozzles or you'll end up with unequal stripes (as on the bottom layer) also these need to be pretty surprisingly large to be effective anything up to 3/4 inch works well, and finally equal constant pressure really is key to stop wonky zebra lines like here! 

Then for the best bits; the salted caramel and chocolate ganache. I took these directly from the Hummingbird Bakery recipe as quite simply they're just too good to miss! The quantities given can make two cakes sparingly for those who like a more subtle flavour, or lash it on allowing the salted caramel to really soak into the slices of sponge. Sandwich each layer with a good dollop of of yummy ganache and smother it all round the sides. I love the deep, unforgiving richness of this cake and the caramel gives it a moistness that makes it more of a pudding than an afternoon treat. Decoration isn't even necessary, a few bright candles as styled in the original recipe makes a wonderful birthday treat. Go on, indulge!!