Chocolate traybake
Mary Berry's chocolate traybake is topped with a milk chocolate icing feathered with white chocolate. This is a great cake to share for a birthday party. Decorate it as you like - try topping it with sweets, chopped chocolate bars or marshmallows!
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú cocoa powder
- 6 tbsp boiling water
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú baking spread or soft butter
- 275²µ/9¾´Ç³ú caster sugar
- 3 large free-range eggs
- 125ml/4fl oz milk
- 175g/6oz self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
For the icing
- 3-4 tbsp warmed, sieved apricot jam
- 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
- 200g/7oz milk chocolate, finely chopped or grated
For the decoration
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú white chocolate
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease and line a 30x23cm/12x9in traybake tin with baking parchment.
Put the cocoa in a large bowl, add the boiling water and mix until smooth. Add the baking spread or butter and beat into the cocoa until smooth, then add the remaining cake ingredients and mix until combined – this can be done with a hand-held mixer or with a wooden spoon.
Pour into the tin, spread evenly and bake in the preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until well risen, just firm to the touch and shrinking away from the sides of the tin. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and peel off the baking parchment.
Use a pastry brush to brush the top of the cake with apricot jam and leave to cool completely
For the icing, warm the cream in a small pan until hot, then add the milk chocolate and stir until completely melted and smooth. (Remember, chocolate will melt in a child's pocket, so the cream doesn't need to be too hot. Overheated chocolate will seize and go grainy.)
Leave to cool a little so that it is a thick pouring consistency (this won’t take long depending on room temperature). Pour the icing over the cake, spreading out with a palette knife to cover the cake completely.
If making the feather decoration, melt the white chocolate in a small bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Place in a small piping bag or sandwich bag, snip the end and pipe in lines down the cake, about 1cm/½in apart. Using a cocktail stick, drag through the white chocolate in opposite directions across the cake to give a feathered effect.
Recipe Tips
This cake will keep for up to one week in a cake tin. If you want to make and serve this cake the day it is made, make sure you make the icing the day before or at least in the morning so it has time to set.
The cake can be iced and frozen in slices for up to three months - the appearance won’t be quite as shiny once it has thawed.
Ganache is so often made with plain chocolate and so many children find this too bitter. This milk chocolate version is utterly delicious poured over the cooled cake or can be cooled until it is a little thicker to spread like a fudge topping, it will set firm enough to roll into balls to make truffles too, if liked.
