Here’s a lovely moist fruit cake with the richness of chocolate. Hazelnuts add crunch, while the filling and topping are silky smooth and delicious.
Serves: 12 – 16
Time: Prep 20 minutes. Baking 60 – 65 minutes + cooling. 20 minutes for decoration + chilling time if needed
Level: Moderately easy
Equipment: 2 x 20cm/8” round tins, preferably loose bottomed
Ingredients
For the cake
- 300g/10oz butter or margarine, softened
- 300g/10oz golden caster sugar
- 375g/13oz self-raising flour
- 30g/1oz cocoa powder
- Pinch of salt
- 4 eggs
- 3 x 20g/0.75oz flake bars (available in packs of 4, or use larger ones to same weight.)
- 100g/3.5oz hazelnuts, roughly chopped
- 125g/4.5oz – 150g/5.5oz good quality dark chocolate (Some chopped, some grated)
- 150g/5.5oz – 200g/7oz dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants)
- 1 – 2 Tbsp milk (if needed)
For the filling/topping
- 150g/5.5oz white chocolate, melted
- 300g/10oz full fat cream cheese
- 150g/5.5oz icing sugar
- 125ml/4.5fl oz double cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Another flake bar (from a multi-pack of four 20g/0.75oz each)
- 20g/0.75oz hazelnuts, halved or whole
- 5g grated chocolate (dark or milk)
Method
1. Grease the two tins and line the bases with baking parchment then dust lightly with cocoa powder. Preheat the oven to 150C / Fan 130C / 300F / Gas 2.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter or margarine and the sugar. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder and salt then add in the eggs one by one, beating with each addition. Continue beating until smooth.
3. Cut or break the flake bars into chunks about 2cm – 3cm long and fold into the mixture along with the chopped hazelnuts, chocolate and dried fruit. If too thick, stir in the milk.
4. Spoon this mixture equally into the two tins and level the tops. Bake in the preheated oven for about 60 – 70 mins. – until a skewer, inserted in the centre, comes out clean.
5. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool fully.
6. Meanwhile, make the filling/topping. Melt the white chocolate, either in a bain marie or in the microwave using short bursts on high power. Stir regularly. Take off the heat once melted and allow to cool a little.
7. In a medium or large bowl, beat the cream cheese until it’s smooth, then sift in the icing sugar. Stir gently at first then beat well to mix in. Pour in the cooled melted white chocolate and beat further. Add in the double cream and vanilla flavouring and beat once again. If necessary put in fridge for half an hour to firm up.
8. Use about half, or a little less, to combine the two cakes*. Cover the top with the remaining mixture and grate the chocolate over it. Scatter or place the remaining flake pieces and hazelnuts on top. (*if you have spare chocolate you could grate some over the filling before adding the second cake on top.)
I hope you enjoy this lovely cake. If you want to see more chocolate cake recipes click here. Two of my personal favourites that I’m sure you’ll love as well are my Chocolate and Orange Marbled Ring Cake and my Chocolate Lime and Orange Cake.
Also, please have a look at my site for lots of other recipes, sweet and savoury. If you’d like to comment or ask a question please do, via the contact page.
Endnote: I think Flake bars are great. In terms of taste & texture they punch well above their looks. Many years ago, while working in China (where, at that time, good chocolate was hard to find) I received a welcome food parcel from friends in the UK . It included a couple of Flakes and I gave one to an American colleague who was grateful, but he had low expectations of the “non-glitzy” bar. What a revelation that first bite was to him and what a change of attitude did he show. Recently I did some research and discovered that Flakes came about by accident in 1920. Have a look for yourself here.
Retired Bloke on Food n stuff 