The iconic raspberry-topped fudge cake is synonymous with Great British Bake Off, so I tested it out to see just how difficult it was to bake (Image: Reach Plc)
It’s that time of year again when the Great British Bake Off is back on our TV screens for another series of baking delights and disasters.
Welcoming a new batch of amateur bakers to the iconic white tent, over the next ten weeks we’ll see them rejoice, breakdown and panic as thirty new challenges come their way.
In 2023, judge Paul Hollywood tasked the bakers with recreating the show’s chocolate fudge cake which features in title credits – which we’re all familar with.
To get in on the action from the comfort of my own home, I challenged myself to make the cake just to see if I could keep up with the likes of the bakers on the show for WalesOnline.
This is how it went.
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The prospect of taking on the cake is scarier than the bake itself (Image: Reach Plc)
“The Great British Bake Off is a cultural phenomenon full of sickly sweet treats and tumultuous challenges, yet every autumn it brings millions around the country (and world) together to indulge in impressive skill and cringe-worthy gaffs.
“Three weeks in and the current batch of bakers are being whittled down by the finest of margins.
“This year the show promised to get ‘back to basics’ by foregoing the strange and seemingly off-the-cuff cuisine challenge which bare no relevance to the programme other than to try something “different”.
“So for the bakers’ first technical challenge they were set the most iconic bake of all.
“No, not a Vicky sponge, but the all-too familiar Bake Off chocolate fudge cake decked out with raspberries (apart from the obligatory missing one, of course) crafted by judge Paul Hollywood.
“So I took on the burden myself, putting myself in those poor bakers’ shoes just to get a taste of the toil they endured.
I’ve seen people claim to tear their hair out over the ‘mammoth’ task, wishing they’d opted for a pre-mixed cake packet.
“I should probably tell you, I don’t actually eat cake and haven’t for several years.
“My love for the process however never dwindled, nor did my idiotic self-sabotaging desire to prove that even though I can’t stand cake, you can still be adept at baking.
“‘But how do you know it tastes good?’ I hear people cry – I tested that out myself and how challenging it really is to replicate.
Everything looks as it should (Image: Reach Plc)
“Tackling an instantly recognisable bake such as the Bake Off cake struck me with dread even before melting the chocolate.
“What would Paul say about the colour and thickness of ganache? Would Prue find it too dense? Would they notice the missing raspberry?!
“Waiting for the butter, chocolate and water melt together only intensifies the feeling of ‘a watched pot never boils’.
“In this case, a pool of murky, fat-splotched water looked far from appetising. How could this ever evolve into a screen-worthy cake?
“The agonising wait was filled with the mixing of the wet ingredients, which resembled nothing too dissimilar to runny scrambled eggs.
“Eggs, sour cream, oil and vanilla whisked to a puddle of custard, before sugar (light brown and caster) were added.
“In a frantic rush to cool the chocolate mixture enough to add to the mix, I completely understood the panic seen on many a baker’s face as they move bowls and tins from fridge to freezer, or fan like a madman on the London Underground during a heatwave.
“A puddle of chocolate, like the one from Wonka’s factory river, lay at the bottom of the mixing bowl.
I’d say that’s a pretty good looking sponge (Image: Reach Plc)
“The mix didn’t split or curdle, so the momentary panic needn’t be had.
“No one wants a runny change, so dry ingredients of self-raising flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt were folded in.
“Remember bicarb, not baking powder. They are two very different things.
“Whisk too little and I end up with lumps of powder in the mix; whisk too much and all the air is knocked out, rendering me with a limp, flimsy pancake. Only time will tell.
“What looks smooth on the exterior could be hiding some insidious monstrosity that lies underneath.
“Safe and secure in the oven, time to tackle the ganache. Even the word ‘ganache’ is enough to send confusion and fear into any novice’s heart.
Repeat after me, G-A-N-A-C-H-E (Image: Reach Plc)
“It can split, it can become grainy, it can become too runny – there are so many endless possibilities as to how it could go wrong.
“My fear was less about how shiny and glossy the ganache is, but getting there in the first place.
“The prospect of the unknown about getting the cream ‘just to the boil’ is a risk I had no choice in taking.
“Carefully adding it to chopped dark chocolate and a small knob of butter, I waited for it to stand.
“The next few minutes were crucial, it could make or split my ganache.
“A shine appeared like the first morning sun, but the ganache was too thin.
“How the would this hold the cake together?! The sponges will just slip and slide.
The overly competitive, ugly side of my personality had definitely reared its head at this point (Image: Reach Plc)
“Bundling the ganache in the fridge to set, the painstaking wait for the sponges to be cooked continued.
“I found myself watching the timer, willing it to tick quicker.
“The oven’s ding signalled ‘crunch time’ for my cakes, as I tentatively inserted the skewer into the middle.
“A clean, batter-free rod meant there needn’t be any panic; no agonising baking was needed.
“Attempting to balance the fine art of keeping the sponges intact while speeding up the cooling process could prove fatal.
“I placed the sponges into the fridge, waiting for cooling and thickening to kick into gear.
I like to think I’d be safe from getting the chop (Image: Reach Plc)
“But there’s only so long I could wait; if the ganache failed to set, it would be the final nail in the coffin.
“One layer of sponge topped with a thin smudge of ganache on a cake board, followed by a healthy glob of more ganache spread to a visible thickness, before being sandwiched with the second sponge.
“A cake’s appearance is half the job – it’s got to look good and taste good – so if my bake looks like a dog’s dinner, then I’ll surely be sent packing into a hole of humiliation.
“I have an obsessive, perfectionist need to make cakes look good. It’s the only time I’ll ever consider myself a perfectionist, ever.
“Cake scraper in hand, my nerves took over and compelled me to even out the ganache over and over and over again.
“There wasn’t enough time to fuss, and I needed to be put out of my misery. Misery topped with raspberries (with one missing, of course).
“However, the final test didn’t come in the form of a blind tasting by Paul and Prue, shrouded in gingham.
“Forcibly persuading my family to sample a slice, the conclusion I received was nothing but positive praise.
“‘Mm yes, very nice,’ my dad said. And with my dad, nothing’s ever “nice”, so this was like my very own version of a Hollywood Handshake.
“So if you ever looked at the iconic Bake Off cake and said how much you’d want to make it but thought it would be just too hard – think again.”
Paul Hollywood’s Chocolate Fudge Cake
Ingredients
For the sponges
- 175g dark chocolate, 54%
- 150g unsalted butter, diced
- 125ml hot water
- 3 medium eggs
- 125ml sour cream, at room temperature
- 50ml vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 150g caster sugar
- 150g light soft brown sugar
- 250g self-raising flour
- 50g cocoa powder
- 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ¼ tsp salt
For the chocolate ganache
- 300g dark chocolate, 54%
- 25g unsalted butter, diced
- 450ml double cream
Method
Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4.
For the sponges, grease and base line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with butter and baking parchment.
Combine the chocolate, butter and water in a heat-proof bowl and set over a pan of barely simmering water.
Stir until melted and then whisk to combine. Remove the bowl from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
In a large mixing bowl use a balloon whisk to mix the eggs, sour cream, oil and vanilla until combined.
Add both sugars and whisk until smooth. Add the melted chocolate mixture and whisk again until smooth.
Sift the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt into the bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined.
Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins and level with a palette knife.
Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre of the sponges comes out clean.
Leave the sponges to cool in the tins for ten minutes and then carefully remove from the tins and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
For the ganache measure the chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl and set aside.
Pour the cream into a medium saucepan and slowly bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate and butter.
Leave the hot cream to melt the chocolate without stirring for one minute and then stir until smooth and glossy. Once smooth, leave it to cool and thicken before using.
Place one of the sponges on a cake stand and spread approximately six tablespoons of the ganache over the top with a palette knife or spoon.
Top with the second sponge, turned upside down so the flat side is the top of the cake. Gently press the two cakes together.
Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining ganache and roughly smooth the sides. Arrange the raspberries on top.
