Milo mudcake and chance

I bake ALL the time.

I know that I bake more than a regular person, but every now and then, some little dessert just floors me. I went to Lorraine’s Patisserie a few weeks ago and tried a gorgeous little tart. It was stunningly chocolatey, and just the perfect amount of sweetness. I set out to recreate the indulgent experience, not knowing where it would end. And then someone Googled “Milo mudcake” and wound up at my blog.

They were actually directed to these milo mud cupcakes, which aren’t actually mud cakes at all!

And that’s how I ended up with this delight. It’s dense, it’s satisfying, and it’s got a delightful milo kick to it.

Milo mudcake

• 250g butter
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 250g milk chocolate
• ¼ cup milo
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup boiling water
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1 cup plain flour
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 1/2tsp bicarb soda

Ganache:

• 110g dark chocolate
• 40g butter
• 2 tbsp hot water
• 1/3 cup milo

Grease and line a 23cm cake tin and preheat your oven to 150°C.

Beat butter and sugar together until pale and creamy. Add in the eggs, two at a time. Mix the boiling water and milo together. Pour in the melted chocolate, followed by the milo, and mix well. Add in the flours, one at a time, and the bicarb, mixing as you go. Add in the milk and mix.  Finally, add in the cocoa and mix.

Pour into your prepared tin and pop into the oven for 85-90 minutes. Allow to cool completely before popping in the fridge. You should refrigerate it for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, to get that really muddy, moist crumb. Once it’s cooled, you may find that you need to trim the edges slightly so that they’re the same height as the centre. If having a slightly concave cake doesn’t bother you, skip this step.

Mix together your hot water and milo, making sure you get this mixture as smooth as possible. Set to one side. Pop a pan half filled with hot water on your stove and set a heatproof bowl over the top of it, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bowl. Put your dark chocolate and butter into the pan to melt. When they’ve melted, stir in the milo and mix to combine. Set to one side to cool.

Allow to cool for about ten minutes so that it gets a chance to thicken, this will make it easier to spread on your cake.

If you want to make icing your cake less messy, tear three rectangular sheets of baking paper and fit them lengthways under the cake so that they triangulate it.

Pour your warm, thickened chocolate mixture over the top of your cake and gently spread it towards the edges of the cake. Grab a palette knife and smooth the icing around the cake until you have a thin, even coating all around.

Pop in the fridge for ten minutes to allow the icing to set, then serve. This cake is pretty dense, so make sure you cut thin slices!

If you’re admiring the colourful little measuring cups, you’re as easily distracted by bright colours as I am! They’re called a Nest Set (cutest name ever, right?) and they’re from new friends of Baking with Gab, Appliance Kitchen. If you’re in the mood for some kitchen shopping, check them out here. I’m warning you though, you could end up buying one of everything!