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Harriet Harcourt

Simplicity Chocolate Cake with Berry Filling & Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Unashamedly old school, this tried-and-true cake recipe goes right back to my growing up years when my mother made it with raspberry jam in the centre and standard chocolate icing. When I started catering, I made it my own by upgrading the filling to fresh or canned berries and changing the icing to chocolate cream cheese icing. I have no idea how many of these I have made in the last 40 years or so, but it is at least in the hundreds. Delicious on the day it is made, but even better the next day – if you can wait!

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INGREDIENTS

CAKE
150g self-raising flour, sifted
200g sugar
10g cocoa, sifted
125ml milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
40g butter, melted

FILLING
½ cup blueberries
½ cup raspberries
(may be fresh or canned)
Icing sugar, to taste

CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE ICING
60g butter, softened
125g cream cheese
100g icing sugar
20g cocoa
½ – 1 tsp vanilla essence

Download This Recipe (pdf)

DIRECTIONS

DIRECTIONS
FOR THE CAKE:
Preheat oven to 180ºC.
Grease and flour a 22cm round cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
Put all the dry ingredients into a large basin, add milk, eggs and vanilla essence and pour the melted butter on top of them.
Beat for one to two minutes, until the batter has thickened slightly and lightened in colour.
Pour cake batter into prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes then turn out to cool on a cooling rack.
 
FOR THE FILLING:
If using fresh berries, mash together with a fork with a little icing sugar to taste.
If using canned, drain berries well – sugar won’t be needed.
 
FOR THE ICING:
Beat together the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
Add the icing sugar, cocoa and vanilla essence and beat together until well combined.
 
TO SERVE:
When the cake is completely cooled, cut in half and fill with the berry mixture.
Replace the top half and ice top and sides with the chocolate cream cheese icing.
 
NOTES:

  • Cake freezes well before icing.
  • Icing keeps well in the fridge for a few days.
  • See downloadable pdf for original versions – icing quantity given in the original recipe makes a lot and is more suitable for a doubled cake mix baked in a larger tin.
  • Cake batter doubles well for a crowd – bake in a 24-25cm tin for about 45-50minutes.


Download This Recipe (pdf)