Caramel rocky road cake
SERVES 20 WHAT YOU’LL NEED
For the cake:
350g butter
350g caster sugar
6 eggs
250g self-raising flour 50g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder 175g dark chocolate, melted
For the topping and filling:
100g butter
150g icing sugar
100g caramel, plus extra for drizzling 100g milk chocolate
100g dark chocolate
200ml double cream
40g sugar
40g salted peanuts
5 dark chocolate digestives
8 large white marshmallows
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 170C/gas Mark 4. Grease and line three 20cm sandwich tins.
In a free-standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition and adding 1 tbsp of the flour after each egg to prevent curdling. Sift in the rest of the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and mix well. Add the melted chocolate and beat thoroughly.
Divide the mixture evenly between the cake tins and bake in the oven for around 25-30 minutes until risen and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the topping, put butter in the bowl of a free-standing mixer and beat until soft. Add half the icing sugar and beat until incorporated. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat again. Add the caramel and beat again.
Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream to boiling point, then pour over the chocolate. Leave for 30 seconds, then stir well to create a thick, glossy ganache. Leave to cool, then whisk with a handheld electric whisk until thick with a buttercream consistency.
Put the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan over a gentle heat until melted. Continue to cook until the sugar is a rich, dark colour. Add the peanuts and stir to coat, then pour the mixture onto a baking tray lined with a sheet of greaseproof paper. Leave to cool and then break into shards.
To construct the cake, crush two digestives into crumbs and stir through the caramel buttercream. Spread half the buttercream over the top of the first layer, place another layer of cake on top and repeat. Finish with the final layer of cake. Cover the entire cake in whipped chocolate ganache. Top with the remaining broken biscuits, marshmallows and shards of peanut brittle, then drizzle with the extra caramel.