Chocolate, Apple and Vanilla Cake

“Yummy Chocolate, Apple and Vanilla Cake”
for Teddy Bears Picnic Cake
for the Cardinal
at the Clandestine Cake Club

This recipe has been created from inspiration in my favourite cake cookery books and from recipes on the internet.  The quantity of ingredients and actual ingredients are not quite the same as any of the recipes that I studied ... I like to tweak culinary ideas! 

Cream together 225g butter and 225g light brown sugar until creamy. Then beat in 4 eggs previously whisked separately. Add and fold in 200 or 225g sieved plain flour with a large teaspoonful of sieved baking powder or bicarbonate of soda, with 50g unsweetened cocoa powder plus vanilla powder or essence according to taste.  Add 100g small pieces of dark black chocolate. I used POULAIN Noir Extra. Add one and half or two dessert apples, which have been cored, peeled and cut into small pieces. Fold in and beat to a firm batter consistency. You may need to add a little milk. Pour into two Victoria sandwich tins oiled and coated with a layer of flour. Bake in a medium to hot oven for 20 minutes but check and take longer at a cooler temperature if necessary. My oven temperatures are not indicative of others! When cool sandwich together with chocolate butter icing.

The theme of the event was: Picnic Cakes... so the fun parent-teacher part of my past thought that A Picnic Cake has to be for teddies!  So.. what kind of cake shall I make? A brown as the earth cake. A green as the grass cake without colourants! Rummaging in my cake decoration collection there is a green ribbon with clover, and look, here are the teddies - mummy, daddy, older teddy with his dog and younger teddy with his book.  A French fêve from an Epiphany cake models Pain du Miel (honeycake) and three bees amongst the daisies with a couple of fir trees in te background could tell the story! The idea of a tartan ribbon blanket disintegrated, so French squared paper and a red felt pen created the perfect picnic rug... but as it was sticking to the squidgey sponge I found the correct size of laminated card... perfect as the models stood or sat in place. They behaved impeccably whilst Great Granpa Bear removed himself from the piano to oversee the event and to present two chocolate liqueurs to 'a happy couple' who will be wed in two weeks time!

 And it wasn't all eaten!!!