- 8
- Difficult
- Average budget
Ingredients
- For the Cake:
- 120g / ⅔ Cup Butter
- 300g / 1⅓ Cups Caster/Fine Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs (Room Temperature)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 200ml / 1 Cup Milk
- 100g / ¾ Cup Cocoa Powder
- 180g / 1½ Cups Plain Flour
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ Teaspoon Baking/Bicarbonate Soda
- 8 Blueberries
- Kirsch/Maraschino Cherry Juice
- Chambord/Raspberry Juice
- 8 Fresh Small Mint Leaves
- For the Omnomberry Frosting:
- 110g / ½ Cup Unsalted Butter
- 230g / 2 Cups Icing/Confectioners Sugar
- ¼ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 4 Tablespoons Kirsch/Maraschino Cherry Juice
- Food Colourings
- Ruby Red
- Grape Violet
- For the Chocolate Frosting:
- 180g / ⅔ Cup Unsalted Butter
- 440g / 3½ Cups Icing/Confectioners Sugar
- 80g / ⅔ Cup High Quality Cocoa Powder
- 4 Tablespoons Milk
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Grease and line three 8-inch round sandwich tins and set aside. Ensure all your ingredients are at room temperature before beginning.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Once pale and combined, add the eggs one at a time and mix well. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Step 2
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the butter mixture. Pour over the milk and gently fold until the cake batter is formed.
Distribute the batter evenly between two of the tins, then only half fill the third tin with the batter. The third tin will create the flatter, middle layer of the final cake.
Step 3
Bake the cake layers in the middle of the oven for 12-15 minutes. They’re ready when firm and springy, and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Once baked, remove the layers from the oven and allow them to cool before removing from their tins and setting aside to cool completely.
Step 4
In a small bowl, add the blueberries and cover with Chambord/raspberry juice. Add some of the grape violet food colouring to dye the berries a rich Omnomberry purple. Leave it aside to infuse.
Step 5
Making the Omnomberry Frosting: Beat the butter until pale and creamy. Gradually add the icing/confectioners sugar and continue to beat. Finally add the vanilla extract and Kirsch/maraschino cherry juice and mix well.
Add a few drops of food colouring gradually until the right shade is achieved. If the frosting is too thick, slowly add more liquid. If it’s too thin, add more icing/confectioners sugar until it’s smooth and spreadable.
Step 6
Making the Chocolate Frosting: Beat the butter until pale and creamy. Gradually and alternately add the icing/confectioners sugar and cocoa powder. Add the milk alternately to thin out the frosting until it’s smooth and easy to spread.
Step 7
Making the Chocolate Omnomberry Cake: Even out the cake layers, removing any lumps and bumps on top so that they may be stacked. Take the thinner chocolate layer, and using a pastry brush gently brush some Kirsch or maraschino cherry juice over it evenly.
Keep about a cup full of Omnomberry frosting aside for garnish later. Starting with one of the thicker layers, spread a generous amount of Omnomberry frosting over it, then stack with the thinner Kirsch/cherry soaked layer. Cover the thin middle layer with the Omnomberry frosting, then top with the final thicker cake layer.
Step 8
Keep about a cup full of Chocolate frosting aside for garnish later. Take the chocolate frosting and begin coating the cake in a rough, thin layer of frosting around the sides and top. Put the cake into the fridge for an hour to chill.
Once chilled, remove the cake and begin to neatly frost it. Smoothing out any edges and keeping it even all around. Return the cake to the fridge for 30 minutes.
Step 9
Fill two icing bags, one with the leftover chocolate and the other with the leftover Omnomberry frosting. Take the cake from the fridge again, carefully pipe chocolate stars around the edge of the cake, leaving an even space between each one.
Next, pipe Omnomberry stars between the chocolate stars to make a complete border. Evenly place the soaked blueberries around the top of the cake, and garnish each one with a tiny sprig of mint.
What you will need: Three 8-inch round sandwich tins, greaseproof paper/baking parchment, a sieve, a knife/cake leveller, wooden spoon/hand whisk, 3 large mixing bowls, a pastry brush, an icing spatula, a small bowl, 2 icing bags and a no.8 star nozzle.