Chocolate Pumpkin Cake
This chocolate pumpkin cake is made with Menier's Premium Moelleux Baking Mix and is topped with chocolate fudge icings and "pumpkins".
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 box Menier Moelleux Premium Baking Mix
- 4 large eggs
- 90 g unsalted butter
For the frosting
- 300 g Menier 70% Dark Chocolate
- 150 g unsalted butter softened
- 100 g icing sugar sifted
- 15 g Menier Cocoa Powder sifted
- A little milk as needed
For the pumpkins
- 1 box strawberries
- 1 bag Fun Cakes Orange Deco Melts
- A few sprigs of mint
Instructions
To make the cake
- Preheat your oven to 180C then grease and line a 9 x 13 inch high-sided baking tin with parchment.
- Melt the chocolate buttons that come as part of Menier's Moelleux Premium Baking Mix with the butter – either in a saucepan over a low heat, or in short bursts at 300W in the microwave.
- Allow to cool slightly and add the eggs, mixing well until combined.
- Pour in the baking mix. Mix until just combined then pour into your prepared 9 x 13 inch baking tin.
- Bake for 18-26 minutes until firm and springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then remove from the tin to cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the chocolate fudge frosting
- Melt the dark chocolate with the butter together in a bowl over a pan of simmering water
- Meanwhile, sieve together the icing sugar and cocoa powder in a separate bowl.
- Once melted, add the icing sugar and cocoa powder gradually to the chocolate mix and beat with an electric mixer.
- Add a touch of milk if a thinner consistency is desired.
To make the pumpkins
- Wash your strawberries, then pat dry with kitchen towel and leave to air dry properly. Remove the leaves from the strawberries, leaving the stalks, ready for them to be dipped in the orange Deco Melts.
- Melt the Fun Cakes Deco Melts in a microwave-safe bowl in 1 minute bursts on 300W, mixing in between each burst.
- Dip the strawberries one by one, coating well, and then place on parchment paper to set.
- Once you've used around 2/3 of the Deco Melt mixture, pour the rest of it into a piping bag and snip a tiny amount off the end.
- Pipe lines vertically over your strawberries to emulate the ridges of real pumpkins. Leave to set.
To construct the cake
- Spread the frosting liberally over your cake, using the back of a spoon to swirl it.
- Place your "pumpkins" on top with a few sprigs of mint then slice and serve!