Curly Whirly Cake

Konditor & Cook

Posted by Ebury Publishing

About

When Konditor & Cook opened in 1993, the dark chocolate cake was our most popular. Chocolate throughout, it was filled with a rich ganache. One of its biggest fans was a Mrs Simon of Sloane Square, who always bought it for family birthdays, until one Thanksgiving when she requested a vanilla filling instead of the customary ganache. And that’s when the Curly Whirly Cake was born – a dark chocolate sponge laden with creamy vanilla frosting. At the time, we also went through a Klimt-inspired wedding-cake period. Gold-leaf squares and decorative swirls were all the rage, and so it was that an everyday cake ended up with some pretty chocolate curly-whirly decorations. The Curly Whirly has topped the number-one spot ever since, and I hope this recipe will make it an equally staple part of your baking.

Makes a 17cm cake

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You Will Need (12 things)

  • For the dark chocolate sponge:

  • 250 ml Milk
  • 275 g Light soft Brown Sugar
  • 100 g Dark Chocolate (54 per cent cocoa solids), chopped
  • 175 g Plain Flour
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 30 g Cocoa Powder
  • 100 g Salted Butter , softened
  • 2 Medium Eggs , lightly beaten

  • To decorate:

  • 1 quantity of Cream Cheese Frosting , flavoured with vanilla
  • Chocolate Flakes or a little melted chocolate (optional)

Steps (7 steps, 60 minutes)

  1. 1

    Heat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5. Line two 17cm sandwich tins with foil or baking parchment.

  2. 2

    Heat half the milk and half the soft brown sugar together in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved, then add the chocolate and stir over a low heat until melted. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

  3. 3

    Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together and set aside. Put the butter in a large bowl, add the remaining sugar and beat together until light and fluffy, using an electric mixer. Gradually add the beaten eggs, alternating each addition with a tablespoon of the flour mixture to prevent it splitting.

  4. 4

    Fold in the rest of the flour, followed by the remaining milk, then add the still-warm chocolate milk. Mix until smooth; it will have a very runny consistency.

  5. 5

    Divide the mixture between the 2 lined tins and bake for 20–25 minutes, until risen and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins.

  6. 6

    Turn the cakes out of their tins and sandwich them together with about a quarter of the frosting. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the top and sides to bind any crumbs and then leave to set in the fridge for an hour.

  7. 7

    Coat with the remaining frosting, smoothing it with a palette knife. Sprinkle with chocolate flakes or put the melted chocolate in a parchment piping bag and pipe patterns on the cake.