Chocolate & Raspberry Cake

My mum made this cake for my sister's birthday and despite not normally liking raspberries, I thought it turned out to be amazingly delicious. She found the recipe online but decided to make a few changes to it, to make it a bit easier. It's very rich and very moist, so you definitely don't need a huge slice (unless you really want one!).

Ingredients: 

Cake: 

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup hot, strong coffee

Raspberry buttercream filling:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

Fresh raspberries (mashed up) or raspberry purée to taste

1 tsp vanilla extract

450g icing sugar

(this will make more than enough filling, we had quite a bit leftover which we will probably use to ice cupcakes)

Chocolate buttercream frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 cups icing sugar

3 tbsp mascarpone

fresh raspberries to garnish

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease and flour two 8 inch round cake pans, then line the bottom with baking parchment. Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix well until smooth.Then add the coffee and mix it well, but don't over mix it. Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and put the cakes on to a cooling rack to cool completely. The cake will probably feel a bit sticky but that's normal. 

To make the filling, cream the butter and then add some of the sugar and mix together in an electric mixer. Then add the vanilla and the raspberry purée and the rest of the sugar. Put the filling in the fridge until needed. 

To make the frosting, beat the butter until fluffy for about 2-3 minutes. Add the cocoa powder and sugar and beat until incorporated. Then add the mascarpone one tablespoon at a time and mix well. 

Once everything is done, you can put it all together. Spread the raspberry filling on one of the cakes, then top it with the second cake and frost the top and the sides. Add a few raspberries on top and it's done.

Harbour Chocolate Lounge

My blog seems to have turned into a chocolate themed blog!

We recently visited my family in England and my grandparents took us to the Harbour Chocolate Lounge in Ramsgate. The place itself is gorgeous and I particularly loved the scooter. It looked like something straight out of a home design magazine. I was quite overwhelmed by all of the amazing chocolaty things and beautiful decor, I just had to take a few snaps. My grandparents recommended the hot chocolates so that's what we ordered. You can chose from a standard hot chocolate or one that comes with cream and marshmallows. I'm not a fan of marshmallows, so I opted for the standard one, whereas Stefane loves them so went all out and got the special one. We also ordered some cakes. I had carrot cake and Stefane had chocolate cake. They also do standard coffees and tea, if chocolate isn't your thing. The hot chocolates consisted out of melted chocolate with milk on top that you have to mix in. They tasted a lot like chocolate spoon hot chocolates and were delicious! Less strong and less rich than the hot chocolates in Paris, but still amazing. The cakes were great too and perfectly sized (although I couldn't finish mine and my granddad ended up finishing it off). 

If the weather is nice, and there's any room left, you can even sit outside and look over the harbour. I would really recommend this place if you happen to be in the area. The address is 19 Military Road, CT11 9LG Ramsgate and they also have a facebook page.

Chocolate House

Hi everyone,

I want to start a new series of blogposts about places I like and would recommend. I know not that many people come to Luxembourg but if this helps even one person, I'm happy. 

I'm starting the series off with one of my favourite little gems, Chocolate House. The names speaks for itself really. It's the place where my boyfriend and I went on our first date, so it has a special place in my heart all to itself. 

They are best known for their chocolate spoon drinks, which is exactly what it sounds like. You get a mug of hot milk and a wooden spoon with a block of chocolate attached, you just have to dunk it in and the chocolate melts, turning the milk into a deliciously rich hot chocolate. They have a whole wall of different flavoured chocolate. Literally. They also do standard coffees and teas, a large array of chocolates, as well as milkshakes and ice creams, which are perfect for spring. Best of all, they make lovely cakes. I personally wouldn't call standard Luxembourgish cakes as real cakes. They mostly do fruit tarts, but hardly ever real sponge cakes. Chocolate House, however, makes amazingly delicious cakes. Everytime you go, there is a large assortment of cakes, which can also be a bad thing if you have a delicious cake one day and they never make it again. But you are sure to find something you like. The prices can be a bit high for certain things, but to be fair the portions are huge (you can take it home if you can't finish it!). It's definitely a nice treat for a special occasion. 

It is located right opposite the palace in Luxembourg city. The address is 20 Rue du Marché-aux-Herbes and they are open every day until eight in the evening.

If you know of any more hidden gems like this in Luxembourg, let me know!

Everyone Loves Cake

Hey guys! I've been so busy the last few days and haven't had time to do a post yet, so I decided to post something special. A cake recipe! We were going to make a sort of Victoria Sponge cake, but we used a bigger tin, and just made the one. But if you have two smaller tins, this recipe would make two cakes. Unfortunatley, we only realised the tins were too big halfway through which is why you'll see two tins.

      INGREDIENTS:

225g Butter (room temperature)

225g Self-Raising Flour

225g Caster Sugar

4 Eggs

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

mix the butter and the caster sugar together with your hands until it's pale and smooth                           and sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl

 Preheat the oven to 180°C

and grease the tin with butter and a little bit of flour

add your 4 eggs to the sugar/butter mixture and stir until it turns liquidy

then add the flour and baking powder and fold it all in so that it turns into a thick mixture

put the mixture into your tin and put it in the over for about 35 minutes/so when you stick a skewer in it comes out clean

once it's done, leave it to cool and then decorate as you wish.

I used chocolate icing, chocolate bits (don't know the real name haha), strawberry sauce and confetti things

And that's all you have to do! It tasted so good and my boyfriend loved it, which is the most important thing :)

What are your favourite cake recipes?