Choc cinnamon Christmas cake and delight

This cake is delightful. It’s festive and delicious – what more could you ask for over Christmas?

For those of you who aren’t big on fruit cakes (my mother being one of those people) it’s handy to have an alternative. If you forgot to start soaking your dried fruit weeks ago, or you’re just not that keen on hanging a pudding in your garage for months on end, this is the cake for you.

It can be made the day before, or even Christmas day and it is just as festive as my dad’s Christmas pudding or caramel-filled cinnamon men.

I have no better segue to introduce Miss Daisy than to compare her to this cake – she is also delightful. She is deliciously cheeky, excitable, and so tiny that she makes the handsome Norman look rather imposing (hah!)

Everyone, meet Daisy! I’ve been putting up photos on instagram since last Sunday, which was when we got her.  She’ll be appearing on the blog more (so will Norman, don’t worry) despite the fact that she’s very hard to pin down for long enough to get a non-blurry photo.

She was an early birthday present and I could not be happier. I can confirm – for those who are wondering – that she and Norman get on well. They play together like they’re both puppies, even though Norman is 13 years her senior!

This Christmas I highly recommend that you ask for this cake, and a puppy.

Cinnamon butter cake:

• 225g softened butter
• 1 1/3 cups caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 ½ cups plain flour
• ¾ cup almond meal
• 1 tsp bicarb
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg

Chocolate icing:

• 300ml thickened cream
• 400g milk chocolate

Preheat your oven to 180°C and grease a 23cm spring-form tin. Line the base with a circle of baking paper. Line the sides of your tin with baking paper, ensuring that it goes above the lip of the tin by at least 4cm.

Cream together your butter and sugar until pale. Add in the eggs, two at a time, and mix well. Slowly add the flour while mixing. Pour in the almond meal and the bicarb, followed by the milk, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well.

Scoop your cake into the lined tin and pop into the oven for 55-60 minutes.

When the cake has been in the oven for half an hour, start on the icing by popping the chocolate and cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat and stirring until the chocolate has melted and started to bubble up gently. Take off the heat and set aside to cool down.

When the cake has cooled completely, pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the top of it and put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

After two hours, when you tip the cake to one side, the icing should wrinkle slightly. Slide a knife between the baking paper and the tin to separate them. Release the latch on your tin and prepare for the icing to run down the sides – this is where things get messy! Put a plate under your cake stand if you’re worried about chocolate drips.
The icing should coat the sides of the cake and then run down onto the plate. Allow it to drip for 60 seconds or so, and then quickly add the holly lollies – the spearmint leaves and jaffas.  Pop into the fridge for at least one hour to set the icing.

I got the inspiration for this cake from the fabulous Mary Berry.

Also, if you want an idea as to just how tiny she is, I tried to capture that for you. This is her compared to the Boy’s shoes and his chair. She also weighs just over one kilo.

Ps the gorgeously festive silver chevron plates features in the photo above are from Illume Design. I’ve used their chevron partyware before, and am a little obsessed!