Jane Hornbys Double Chocolate Marble Wedding Cake Recipes

CHOCOLATE MARBLE LOVE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
• Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions. Spoon evenly into the prepared pan and set aside.
• Combine the ricotta, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, eggs and 4 ounces of the mascarpone in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until smooth. Gently scoop the filling onto the cake batter and spread, so the top is completely covered. Bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the vanilla cake layer has risen to the top, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack.
• Combine the instant pudding, milk and the remaining 12 ounces mascarpone in a stand mixer and beat until thick and smooth. Spread the frosting evenly over the entire cake. Use a peeler to shave chocolate curls to garnish the cake.

CREATING YOUR WEDDING CAKE

Steps:

• COVER THE FRUIT CAKE WITH THE MARZIPAN: How to do it: Boil the apricot jam with 2 tbsp water and sieve into a bowl. Brush the 15cm cake board with a little of the apricot jam. Cut off the rounded top of the cake and turn upside-down onto the board. Measure across the top and sides of the cake with string, cut to length and set the string aside. Brush the cake all over with a thin layer of apricot jam.
• Dust the work surface with icing sugar and roll the marzipan into a circle big enough to cover the cake top and sides, using the cut string as a guide. Lift over the cake and smooth with your hands. Trim the marzipan to the base of the cake (so you can't see the board) and leave to dry for one day if time. If not, the cake can be iced straight away.
• FILL & COVER THE CHOCOLATE & LEMON CAKES WITH BUTTERCREAM: Adding good-quality lemon curd or silky chocolate ganache transforms simplebuttercream into an indulgent filling.
• How you do it: First make the buttercream. Beat the butter until creamy, then gradually beat in the sifted icing sugar. Weigh 600g/1lb 5oz of the mix and stir 5 tbsp of the lemon curd into it.
• In a small pan, bring the cream just to the boil, then pour over the chocolate. Leave to stand for 2 mins, then stir until smooth. Once cool but still liquid, fold into the remaining basic buttercream.
• Once each cake is completely cool, level off the top using a long serrated knife. Spread a little of the corresponding buttercream over the matching thin cake board. Turn cake upside down onto the board and brush all over with a thin layer of the sieved apricot jam - this helps to prevent stray crumbs getting into the buttercream.
• Cut into three layers horizontally - don't worry if you cut the layers unevenly as it won't affect the finished cake. If it's a hot day or warm in your kitchen, refrigerate the cakes for a while - it will firm them up and make cutting and lifting much easier. Lift off each layer as you cut it, and set it aside so that when you re-stack the layers they are in the right order.
• If you've made the buttercream in advance and it has hardened slightly, warm in the microwave on Defrost for 10 secs and beat well. Using a palette knife, spread approx 1/4 of the buttercream over the first layer of the cake. For the lemon cake, swirl another tbsp or so of lemon curd over the icing. Stack the remaining layers this way, spreading all of the remaining icing over the top and sides of the cake, smoothing it down to meet the cardboard cake base. Smooth all over with your palette knife and set aside. The cakes are now ready for covering with ready-to-roll icing. Filled with buttercream and iced, the cakes will keep for up to 3 days.
• COVER ALL THE CAKES WITH READY-TO-ROLL ICING: The next stage is to subtly colour the different tiers with the ivory, dusky pink and cream colouring pastes.
• How to do it: For the marzipanned fruit cake only, first lightly brush with cooled, boiled water to help the icing stick. For all the cakes, dust the work surface with icing sugar and knead the icing until pliable. Add a few specks of the food colouring with a toothpick or the end of a skewer - be very sparing as a little goes a long way. Work the colour in until you have an evenly coloured, smooth paste. Add more and knead again if you want the colour to be more intense.
• Lightly dust the work surface again and roll the icing into a circle large enough to cover the sides and top of the cake, with a little excess. Use string to measure as before. Lift the icing over the cake, using your rolling pin to help you.
• Smooth the icing around the cake with your hands, then trim off the excess with a sharp knife. Leave overnight to dry. Once iced, keep for 3 days.
• Once you've iced the cakes, cover the 35cm base. Lightly brush with cooled, boiled water and cover with ivory-coloured icing. Trim and leave overnight to dry.
• STACK THE CAKES: Dowels give stability and strength to tiered cakes. By measuring and cutting the dowels to the same length, you're providing an even platform for the next cake to sit on, even if your cake is a bit wonky. For this cake, the tiers are stacked like steps, just off centre.
• How you do it: In a large bowl, gradually beat icing sugar into the egg white until thick and smooth. Cover with cling film until ready to use.
• Starting with the chocolate cake, insert three dowelling rods in a triangle, slightly offset to one side and no wider than the base of the lemon cake that's going to sit on top. With a permanent pen, lightly mark where the top of the icing comes to on the dowel.
• Carefully pull out the dowels and line up on the work surface. Using a ruler, re-mark each rod to the highest point. Score the dowels with scissors around the new marks and snap the plastic cleanly.
• Re-insert the rods in their original holes, rounded end down. Cut the thin ivory ribbon to fit around the thick base board, securing at the back with glue or double-sided tape. To stack the cakes, spoon a little royal icing over each of the dowel holes. Carefully lift the chocolate cake onto the covered board, then stack cakes on top of one another, positioning each cake and gently lowering one side of it onto the base or cake below. Slide your palette knife under it at this point and gently lower the cake down. Slide the knife out at the last minute. (If you're moving the cake to the venue, put the cakes into their boxes and take the icing with you.)
• THE TIME PLAN: UP TO A MONTH AHEAD: 1. Make the fruit cake and cover with marzipan. 2. Make the chocolate and lemon cakes if freezing - they will freeze for up to 1 month (although they are best made fresh if you can).
• UP TO 4 DAYS AHEAD: 1. Make the chocolate and lemon cakes if making fresh - keep well rapped in baking parchment and cling film in a cool place. 2. Make the chocolate and lemon buttercream and keep in the fridge. 3. Make the chocolate and lemon cakes if making fresh - keep well wrapped in baking parchment and cling film in a cool place. 4. Make the chocolate and lemon buttercream and keep in the fridge.
• UP TO 3 DAYS AHEAD: 1. Fill and cover the chocolate and lemon cakes with buttercream and cover all of the cakes and the board with icing. 2. Insert the dowelling rods.
• UP TO 2 DAYS AHEAD: 1. Frost the rose petals.
• ON THE DAY: 1. Stack the cakes and decorate with petals once the cakes are in place.

JANE HORNBY'S DOUBLE CHOCOLATE MARBLE WEDDING CAKE

Steps:

• First make the cakes. Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Make the 18cm and 23cm cakes first. Butter then line the base and sides of both a 23cm and an 18cm round, deep cake tin. Have two large bowls ready, then put 250g flour, ¾ tsp each baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, and ¼ tsp salt into both bowls. Add the muscovado to one, the caster sugar to the other, then stir. Break up any muscovado lumps with your fingers.
• Put the butter, chocolate, vanilla and coffee in a saucepan and heat very gently until melted and smooth. In another pan, do the same with the white chocolate ingredients. This white chocolate mix will look buttery and separated, but that's fine. While you wait, put a large jug onto your scales, crack in the eggs and add the soured cream. Make a note of the weight (it should be about 800g in total). Beat to combine.
• When the chocolates are melted, tip the dark mix into the bowl that has the muscovado in it. Tip the white chocolate mixture into the other. Pour half of the egg and soured cream mix into each bowl (do this on scales to be sure).
• Beat each bowl with a spatula or balloon whisk to make a smooth, runny batter. Leave it to sit for a few moments to thicken a little, then spoon alternate blobs of the batters into the tins, until they are filled to two-thirds full and all of the mix has been used. I find an old-fashioned ice cream scoop really useful for this. Using a skewer, swirl the two mixes together just a few times, to marble the mixtures.
• Bake the cakes together on the same shelf, in the middle of the oven, for 1 hr 30 mins or until risen and crusty-looking on top, and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 30 mins, then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely.
• To make the 30cm cake, butter then line a 30cm round cake tin with baking parchment, then wrap the outside with a couple of layers of newspaper, securing with string (as you might a Christmas cake). Repeat the recipe as above, dividing the quantities for the 30cm cake in half between two bowls, as before. Bake the cake for 1 hr 45 mins and test as before.
• Make the buttercreams. Follow this method for both buttercreams and keep them separate. Heat the cream and coffee liqueur in a small pan until steam rises. Put the chocolate in a smallish bowl and pour over the hot cream. Leave to melt for a few mins, stirring until smooth. Leave to cool completely.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter with a pinch of salt with an electric whisk until pale and smooth. Gradually beat in the icing sugar to make fluffy buttercream. When all the sugar is in, gradually add the cooled ganache and beat together well. The white chocolate mixture will be whipped and very pale, while the dark chocolate mixture will be a milk chocolate colour when finished.
• Split and layer the cakes. Once each cake is completely cool, level off its slightly chewy, brownie-ish top using a long serrated knife. Spread a little dark chocolate buttercream over the thin cake board that matches the cake you're working on. Turn the cake upside-down onto the board, then sit this on a sheet of baking parchment, so you can spin the cake around.
• Split cake into three layers using a length of cotton or, as this is a fairly sturdy cake, simply cut using a long serrated knife, if you prefer.
• Now you can start to fill the cake. If you've made the buttercreams in advance and they have hardened slightly, warm in the microwave on defrost for 10 seconds and beat well. Half-fill a piping bag with the dark chocolate buttercream, either with a wide nozzle or just the end snipped off. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the inside edge of the bottom cake layer. This is going to keep the white and dark frostings separated and neat.
• Spoon some of the white chocolate frosting into the middle of the cake and spread it out to meet the dark frosting at about the same thickness. Stack the middle layer of the cake back on top and repeat until the cake is rebuilt. Chill for 10 mins. Ensure any crumbs are cleaned away, then cover the top and sides of the cake with an even coating of dark chocolate buttercream, paddling it out over the top and down the sides using a palette knife. Smooth the top as best you can. Repeat with all three cakes.
• Chill the cakes for at least 30 mins to allow the buttercream to firm up before covering in sugarpaste. Can be done up to three days ahead.
• Cover the cakes in sugarpaste. Starting with the small cake, transfer the cakes to new sheets of baking parchment, as any blobs of buttercream could get into the sugarpaste.
• Knead the sugarpaste until pliable, then shape into a smooth ball. Lightly dust the work surface and the top of the icing with icing sugar, then use a large rolling pin to roll a circle large enough to cover the entire cake and for the icing to be about 5mm thick. If you're not sure, roughly measure the cake with a piece of string from one side to the other (don't get it chocolatey). Using your rolling pin to help, or just lifting it with your hands, lift the sugarpaste over the cake.
• When the icing is in the right position, drop it onto the cake. Smooth it over the cake with your palms, working from the top down, until there are no wrinkles or folds. Push the excess in towards where the cake meets the board.
• Using a small sharp knife, trim the excess sugarpaste away from the cake. Keep the cake on the work surface for this, don't be tempted to lift it up as if you're trimming a pie, as the sugarpaste can rip.
• Using your palms or a plastic cake smoother, polish the sugarpaste to make a smooth, silky surface. Slide the cake somewhere it won't be disturbed and leave to dry overnight, if possible. Repeat for all of the cakes. Brush a little cooled boiled water over the 35cm drum and cover that in sugarpaste, too.
• Dowel the cake and decorate each tier. Now you need to insert dowels into the cake, which act like internal scaffolding. Starting with the 30cm cake, push three dowelling rods in a triangle into the middle of the cake - they should be set apart no wider than the base of the 23cm cake. Lightly mark where the top of the icing comes to on the dowel.
• Carefully pull out the dowels and line up on the work surface. Then, using a ruler, re-mark each rod to the highest point. Score the dowels with scissors around the marks and snap the plastic.
• Re-insert the rods in their original holes, rounded-end down.
• Make the royal icing, following pack instructions, to a fairly thick icing. Put a no.2 nozzle into a piping bag, then fill with some of the icing; cover the rest with cling film. Pipe random dots over the 18cm cake, from pea-sized to pinhead-sized. To make a large blob, squeeze continuously, rather than trying to draw a circle and fill it in. As you near the base, make the dots more sparse, eventually fading to nothing where the ribbon is going to sit). Leave to dry. The icing needs to be the right consistency, so that it pipes but doesn't drip.
• For the chevrons, knead a little of the colouring into the sugarpaste until evenly pink. Split into two; keep one half covered with cling film. Using a little icing sugar, roll the other half to about £1 coin thickness, and in a rectangle just bigger than A4 size. Starting from one of the short edges, cut into ribbons 2.5-3cm wide. Carefully lift the strips onto a piece of parchment on a board and take them outside, out of the wind. Spray with pink spray, then take back indoors and leave to dry for couple of mins. Repeat with the second piece of paste.
• Positioning the pink strips. Brush a little cooled boiled water in a diagonal stripe up the side of the 23cm cake, then position one of the pink chevrons up against it, letting it overlap at the bottom and curve around to meet the middle of the cake at the top. Press into position, cut away the excess flush to the cake and leave to dry. Do this with each of the chevrons, spacing them evenly. Go easy with the water and try to keep your hands clean and dry.
• For the gold cake, take it outside as well, then spray liberally to create a shimmery gold effect. Don't waste the spray on the middle of the cake where the next cake will sit. Leave to dry.
• Stack and complete the cake. To stack the cakes, spoon a little of the leftover royal icing over each of the dowel holes on the 30cm cake (bottom layer). Carefully lift the 30cm cake onto the covered board, then stack the remaining cakes on top of one another, positioning each cake and gently lowering the back edge of the cake onto the cake below. Make sure it's central, then slide a palette knife under the cake and gently lower the cake down. Slide the knife out at the last minute.
• Run a thin line of royal icing around the edge of the base board and attach 110cm pale blue ribbon. Fasten ribbon around the base of the gold cake and the white dotty cake, then finish with fresh flowers (wrap stems in flower tape or foil first).

CHOCOLATE-VANILLA MARBLE CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter four 2-by-6-inch miniature-loaf pans (2 inches deep; not nonstick). In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa powder and 6 tablespoons hot water. Stir half the batter into cocoa mixture.
• Spoon 2 dollops of batter into pan next to each other, 1 chocolate and 1 vanilla. Repeat twice, alternating layers, and swirl.
• Bake until a skewer inserted in center of a cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Let cool completely in pans on a wire rack. Run a knife around edges, then turn out cakes.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE MARBLE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease an flour one 10 inch tube pan.
• To make marbling mixture: Combine 1/3 cup of the coca and 1/2 cup of the white sugar and mix well.
• In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, and set aside.
• In another bowl, cream the butter with 1 cup of the sugar and the brown sugar. Beat in the egg yolks, then the vanilla and sour cream.
• In another bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Beat into the creamed mixture. Stir about 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it and then fold in the rest gently but thoroughly. Spread about 1/4 of the batter into a greased and floured tube pan and sprinkle with about 1/3 of the cocoa-sugar mixture. Continue repeating layers, ending with the batter. With a knife, lightly swirl the batter and cocoa mixture together
• Bake at 325 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 3/4 hours, or until it tests done with a toothpick. Let cool on a rack. Makes 16 to 20 servings.