a cake for bonfire night

…whilst the global domination of the American version of Halloween is all very well and good – and don’t get me wrong, I love Halloween – us Brits must always Remember, Remember, the 5th of November.  Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.  For the 5th of November sees us celebrate the night that Guy Fawkes attempted and failed to blow up parliament.  You hear a lot of grumbling about how Bonfire Night has been forsaken by the great unwashed in favour of Halloween but in fact if you live outside of the major towns and suburbs, a great many of the unwashed celebrate it in style and have done since 1605.  This very evening in-fact, I gave an old jacket to a school-teacher friend who will be using it to create an effigy of Guy Fawkes to be burnt on a giant bonfire they’re building at school so they can teach the kids a history lesson.

We’re off to a local firework display on Saturday evening taking place in the field of a friendly farmer who is currently building a giant bonfire that i’m convinced can be seen from space.  I cannot wait for the fun to begin!  I believe that these traditions are the kinds of things that are essential to keeping our national identity… they’re also great fun and gives us a great excuse for some wonderful food and drink to be consumed on the night…

triple layer bonfire cake

this really is just a bit of fun and i’m sure a slice of each for the people attending the bonfire night will happily tuck in… i’ve gone for three layers with varying degrees of ‘fire’ colours and have used the old-faithful Matchmakers to create the sticks and logs for the bonfire.  A bit of a process here but it was all fun to put together and i’m quite please with the results!

for the triple layer sponge

• 270g un-salted butter – at room temp
• 270g granulated sugar
• 5 large free-range eggs
• 270g Homepride self-raising flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
• red food colour gel
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• yellow food colour gel

for the buttercream icing

• 200g slightly salted butter – room temp
• 300g icing sugar
• red food colour gel
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• raspberry jam and matchmakers – or chocolate tubes

for the chocolate bonfire flames

• 200g white chocolate, chopped
• red food colour gel
• yellow food colour gel

grease and line your baking tins and pre-heat the oven to 170C

in a large bowl add the butter and sugar and beat well until light and fluffy… this will take roughly 4 minutes in a stand mixer

continue beating on a low speed and add 2 of the eggs followed by half the flour and continue to beat on low until combined, followed by the 3 last eggs and the rest of the flour… beat gently until combined, you want a decent, thick batter with a dropping consistency of thick double cream.

divine the batter into 3 even portions in 3 bowls.  In bowl one add the cocoa powder and a few drops of the red food gel and beat together until combined – you’re looking for a nice burnt red colour.  In bowl two add the red food gel only – go as shocking as you dare… and in bowl three go for a bright yellow colour.  Remember to beat them all well so that all the colour is combined.

divide the batter between the three cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cakes are risen, golden and springy to touch – set aside to cool for 5 mins in their tins and then remove from the tins and let them cool completely.

to make the buttercream, beat the butter until soft and light, then carefully add half the icing sugar and beat in, follow this with the remaining sugar, a little lemon zest and beat till you have a thick but spreadable consistency.  Divide the butter cream in half and to one half beat in some red food colour and the other half beat in the cocoa powder.

to build the cake, layer each cake with a generous slathering of jam followed by the next layer on top… once all the layers are covered simply smooth the chocolate icing on the lower half and then the red icing on the top and upper half – don’t worry if the colours bleed into each other, this will add to the effect… next, stick on the matchmakers in very random angles, break a few up… be nice and messy.

to make the chocolate bonfire shards, melt the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl.   One melted, divide into three bowls and add the food to each amount and beat well in

cut 3 lengths of greaseproof paper and roughly spread the chocolate onto each – I kept the layers of chocolate quite thick as I wanted thick shards. Place the greaseproof paper into the fridge to set.

after 30 minutes, take the paper from the fridge and using a large sharp knife, cut it into shards – place these shards randomly onto the top of the cake to create the flames

seeing that this cake is heaped full of chocolate gorgeousness I am linking it to one of my favourite bloggers link-ups – We Should Cocoa devised and hosted by the lovely Choclette over at Tin and Thyme

eat and of course, enjoy!