Sorry if you're getting a bit sick of my wedding countdown but with just three sleeps to go it's about all I can think about! Today we're getting all packed up and heading up to the beach to start the preparations and partying. Mum and dad's house was cleared of furniture yesterday and tomorrow, in come the tables and chairs and everything else you need for a wedding at home.
I can't wait to see all our ideas come together and come to life. Unfortunately the weather report isn't looking too good. We have a back up plan but please keep your fingers and toes crossed for us!
Just because I'm getting married very soon, doesn't mean I have stopped baking. It was my sister's boyfriend's Birthday last week and he loves caramel. I thought it was a good opportunity to try out a caramel mud cake recipe I'd been saving.
I have a few other sweet treats for you for the rest of the week before I'm off for my honeymoon.
Place the white chocolate, sugar, butter, golden syrup, vanilla extract and water in a large saucepan. Heat it all over a medium heat, stirring, until everything melts together and gets nice and smooth. Take the pot off the heat and set it aside to cool for 20 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time and whisk them through. The recipe says to use a wooden spoon but I find a whisk makes the mixture much smoother.
Sift in the flours and then whisk them through until the batter is smooth.
Divide it evenly between two greased and lined round cake tins. Bake them for 40-50 minutes at 160C fan-forced or until they are golden on top and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Leave the baked cakes to rest in the tins for 20 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
I used a recipe for chocolate fudge icing that I used when I made Nigella's Devil's chocolate cake. Check out the recipe to see the steps.
To assemble the cake, place a blob of icing on the serving tray and invert one of the cakes onto it so it's bottom up. Cover it with icing and then sandwich the second cake on top and cover it in icing.
Serve it up with a big scoop of ice-cream. Enjoy!
A different question for you today? If you are married, what tip would you give yourself for your wedding day if you could do it all again?
Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 200 g 7oz butter, chopped
- 200 g 7oz white chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup firmly-packed dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup hot water
- 1 tablespoon golden syrup
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup plain AP flour
- 1 cup self-raising flour
Icing
- 125 ml water
- 30 g 1oz dark brown sugar
- 175 g 6oz unsalted butter, cubed
- 300 g 11oz good-quality dark chocolate, finely chopped
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 160C(320F) fan-forced and grease and line two 20cm round cake tins.
- In a large saucepan, combine the butter, chocolate, sugar, water, golden syrup and vanilla extract and stir it over medium heat until everything melts and comes together.
- Set the mixture aside to cool for 20 minutes.
- One at a time, whisk in the eggs and then sift in the flours. Whisk them through until the mixture is smooth.
- Divide it evenly between the two tins and bake the cakes for 40-50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Leave the cakes to sit in the tins for 20 minutes before turning them out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, put the water, 30g dark sugar and 175g butter in a pan over a low heat to melt. When the mixture begins to bubble, take the pan off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, swirling the pan so all the chocolate is heated. Leave it for a minute or two and then whisk until the icing turns smooth and glossy.
- Nigella says to leave it for about an hour whisking every now and then. Mine took at least 2 hours to thicken significantly.
- Place a small blob of icing on your serving plate and invert one of the cakes on top of it. Cover the cake with icing and put the second cake on top, right-way-up. Coat the top of it with icing.
Felicia says
Hi Claire
This is my 2nd post to you after I thanked you for your amazing chocolate mudcake recipe [again, thank you forever!!]. But what I wonder about is this caramel mudcake, I'm desperately searching for a caramel mudcake recipe that would hold up for decorating, for a 6 x 3 inch pan. Do you know how I could adjust your recipe for that purpose at all? Thanks a lot.
Claire says
Hi Felicia. You're very welcome! Just to clarify, when you say 6x3 inch do you mean a rectangular pan (ie you're not talking depth too?). I have made the original chocolate mud cake in so many different sizes I would say it would work out. I have used it to decorate too and it has help up well. I hope that helps. You just have to start checking on it earlier as it will cook faster being in a skinnier tin.
Nic@diningwithastud says
Gorgeous cake Claire :) Cant wait to see the pics!!
Glamorous Glutton says
No one can blame you for the continued count down. Lovely Mud Cake recipe, I'm amazed you can think of anything other than your wedding. What a good sister you are. GG
Claire says
Thanks GG!
The Café Sucré Farine says
Okay Claire, now who needs wedding cake when you can whip up a fabulous cake like this one? Could you get up just a little early on Saturday and make a quadruple batch for the guests? :) Seriously, it looks wonderful and I'm so............ excited for you!
Claire says
Haha even I'm not as mad as that Chris! Although that's why we're not having a cake. I like my cakes more than store-bought!
Jessica says
Claire - hooray for wedding weekend! Don't worry about the weather - I'm sure it will surprise you and turn out. (We had less-than-cooperative weather at ours, but it didn't change the fun of it a single bit - in fact, it gave people something to commiserate over, so I think guests enjoyed themselves even more because of it). Don't sweat the small stuff on the big day! If you relax and enjoy yourself, everyone else will too!!
Claire says
Thanks Jess I hope so! I'm pretty relaxed at the moment so hopefully I stay that way!
Gillian Ashurst says
during your day ,every so often stop and take a look around at all the lovely happy faces around you. Try and note something you might remember in the future. But above all have a wonderful, carefree day!
Claire says
Thanks Gill. I will remember that!
Jo Smith says
My wedding tip: don't let the caterers cut the wedding cake into pieces that are too big. So much was wasted because everyone was full!
Claire says
Thanks Jo! We're not having wedding cake so we won't have that problem. I would have hated wasted cake too!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
I can't believe you're still posting so close to the wedding! You must be so organised!! The cake looks gorgeous :D
Claire says
Yes we're pretty organised so as long as most things stick to the plan we're all set!
Lisa says
My advice for myself in retrospect, would be to be a bit more ruthless when chatting with guests. I got a bit stuck talking to some people and missed out on chatting with others. It also meant that I didn't get to have a bit of a dance with my friends.
I also wish that I had organised somewhere to go afterwards. Lots of people were keen to kick on and it would have helped to have had a plan.
Have a wonderful day. It'll be the most fabulous celebration of your life. Enjoy and savour every moment.
Claire says
Thank you Lisa!Luckily we will get to chat to people the next day too so we can be very ruthless. I must dance!