From Disaster To A Chocoholics Dream

These little babies actually started life as something completely different. It had been my intention to actually make the Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake from Sky High Cakes as popularised by Katie at Apple and Spice. If you want to have a go at making this scrummy looking cake for yourself then please visit Katie's blog for the recipe and I hope you have much more joy with it than I did.

I recently moved into a new team at work and as we were having our first team meeting today I promised them I'd bake them something for the occasion. Miss JS wanted something chocolate (she is pregnant and says its really bub who was asking for the chocolate and not her). Mr GK wanted fudge. Someone else wanted cake. Naturally the Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake sprung to my mind, it ticked all the boxes. So I ran home after work last night and baked the cakes, even sacrificing Hubby's previously made request for one of his favourite soups for dinner (baking a cake or making a pot of soup? That one is a no brainer for me!)

While the cakes were baking I made the White Chocolate Mousse filling, while the mousse was setting and the cakes were cooling in the tins I made the Chocolate Fudge frosting. While the frosting was setting to a mayo like consistency I went and put my feet up for a bit. At 9:30 the cakes were finally cold enough for assembly, I was so excited, so much chocolate and butter and cream and naughtiness all in one cake ...

... disaster struck. The White Chocolate Mousse wasn't as mousse like as it should have been but I didn't realise until the second layer was placed on top of the mousse. For some crazy reason I pressed on, the third layer was disaster too ~ why on earth did I think it would be anything different?!?!?!? I was crushed, this was my worst baking disaster since my brother and I decided to make a birthday cake for my Mum when we were little and we forgot to put the flour in. My team were expecting this wonderful cake and instead I had nothing for them. Hubby consoled me and told me 'the white chocolate goo tastes nice'.

But I couldn't let a pregnant woman down! The fudge frosting was still OK, that could be used on something else, something like chocolate chip muffins maybe? 10:30pm last night found me in my kitchen whipping up a batch of Chocolate Chip Chocolate Muffins and 7:00am this morning found me sat at our kitchen table icing them with Fudge Frosting - phew!

Chocolate Chip Chocolate Muffins

255g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb of soda

1/2 tsp salt

110g caster sugar

4 tbsp cocoa powder

1 egg

240ml milk

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

90ml veg oil

100g white chocolate chips

Prepare muffin tins. Preheat oven to 190C.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda, salt, sugar and cocoa powder. Add chocolate chips.

In another bowl, beat egg with a fork. Stir in milk and vanilla, followed by oil.

Pour all of wet mixture into dry. Stir just until combined and no dry flour is visible. Batter will be lumpy.

Fill muffin cups three quarters full. Bake for 20-25 mins until tops spring back when pressed gently.

Makes 15 standard size muffins (although the original recipe said it should make 10 to 11!)

From Muffins - Fast and Fantastic by Susan Reimer

I left the muffins to cool overnight and then iced them with the frosting this morning.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

340g chocolate, chopped

100g unsalted butter

2 tbsp golden syrup

60ml whole milk at room temp

110ml sour cream at room temp

Melt the chocolate with the butter and golden syrup in a double boiler over barely simmering water. Remove from heat and whisk until smooth.

Whisk the chocolate with the milk and sour cream. Leave to cool until it becomes the thickness of mayo but be sure to use while still soft.

Sky High Cakes

This recipe will make more than you need for the muffins, which were a big hit with my team and quite a few people in the rest of the office who managed to get a sample. I found the muffins a touch too dry though, I think that's because of the amount of cocoa powder though? Next time I'll look for a recipe that uses melted chocolate in place of the cocoa I think, in for a penny in for a pound after all ;0)

The Fudge Frosting, however, is heavenly. Mr GK said he could of eaten a bowl of it all on its own, I told him he came very close to having a bowl of it all on its own lol.