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1. The cake and stars are best made a day ahead (the cake is easier to slice and fill, and the stars have time to set). Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Butter and base-line a deep loaf tin (22 x 11 x 6cm). Put the chocolate and butter for the cake in a saucepan. Mix the coffee with 50ml water, then pour into the pan. Warm through over a low heat, just to melt - be careful not to overheat.
2. While the chocolate melts, mix both flours with the bicarbonate of soda, both sugars and the cocoa. Break down any lumps in the sugar with your fingers. Beat the eggs, then stir in the soured cream. Pour this and the melted chocolate over the flour mixture, then stir everything together - the mix will be very soft. Pour it into the tin, then bake for about 1½ hrs, or until firm on top. Let the cake cool in the tin (it may crack if you turn it out too soon), then loosen the sides and carefully turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
3. To make the stars, line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Melt both chocolates separately. Pour and spread the white chocolate thinly into a rectangle on the parchment. Drizzle the dark chocolate off the end of a teaspoon in bold squiggles over the top. Leave in a cool, dry place (not the fridge) until almost set but not hard, then lightly press down with a star cutter, about 5.5cm across, to make at least 6 star outlines. (Make a few extra in case of breakages and wipe the cutter each time you press a star shape.) When completely set, cut through the star outlines with a small sharp knife, then carefully lift them off onto baking parchment.
4. For the white chocolate icing, heat the cream just to boiling. Remove from the heat, tip in the chocolate and swirl so it starts to melt, then pour in the boiling water and stir to melt completely. Pour into a small bowl and chill in the fridge for about 1 hr to cool and thicken slightly. Beat with an electric hand mixer until thick and glossy.
5. When the cake is completely cold, place it into the fridge to chill (this makes it easier to slice). Take the cake out of the fridge and turn it over so the flat base becomes the top of the cake. Slice the cake horizontally into three. Sandwich back together with the white chocolate icing, not quite up to the edges. (This can be done a day ahead and chilled.)
6. For the dark chocolate icing, heat the cream with the sugar just to boiling. Remove from the heat, tip in the chocolate, then stir in the boiling water. Leave to cool and thicken a little. Put the cake on a wire rack with parchment paper underneath (to catch any drips). Pour and spread the icing all over the cake. Leave to set slightly, then arrange the truffles down the centre and prop 5 or 6 of your best stars against them.

PER SLICE (FOR 14)

428 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 44g, fat 27 g, saturated fat 16g, fibre 0g, salt 0.33 g

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Results 1-20

• Chris

  08 November 2008

  Chris commented on this recipe

  This Chocolate Truffle Cake sound truly delicious, Iwill certainly be making it for my family at Christmas, much better than the usual Chocolate Log!!!

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• Chris

  08 November 2008

  Chris rated this recipe

  

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• Akapuleran

  22 November 2008

  Akapuleran commented on this recipe

  This was really good and looked just like the picture! It wasn't nearly as hard to make as I thought it would be either!

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• loula

  23 November 2008

  loula rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I made this cake for some friends and we all LOVED it! And it was actually really easy to make. I did make some changes, I made a round cake instead and just sliced through once,so I had loads of white choc cream left (found it very hard not to make this the cooks treat!) Will deffo be my christmas cake of choice this year.

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• wilson

  02 December 2008

  wilson commented on this recipe

  I don't usually have any problems making a cake, but I have had 2 attempts at this one and it has been a disaster. I followed the recipe exactly, the first one I made in my mixer and cooked in a loaf tin for exactly the correct temperature and time. The outside was crisp and flaked off, the middle was like a pudding. I made it again last night because I don't like being beaten. I mixed it by hand and baked it in a cake tin to make a deeper mix, but again it has come out like a fudgy pudding. It tastes lovely, but it was difficult to turn out because it was heavy and broke up. I tried mouding it together with the white chocolate filling, but sadly it is going to end up as trifle. I don't want to through it away because it does taste nice and the ingredients are expensive. I will be interested in other people's verdicts

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• Alice

  07 December 2008

  Alice commented on this recipe

  I have attempted to make this ahead of christmas day and its a disaster. It sunk as soon as i got it out of the oven and was vey crispy on top and squidgy in the middle. I won't waste it as i'm sure it will still taste good but it doesn't look anything like the one in the picture. Very disappointed.

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• bozwellox

  08 December 2008

  bozwellox commented on this recipe

  Hi everyone, I'm definitely going to give this a go as our alternative Christmas cake but I'm a bit worried about failing miserably. Are there any recommendations for what to do/not do so I can avoid the bad results Wilson and Alice (above) had? Thanks!

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• Blossom

  08 December 2008

  Blossom commented on this recipe

  I made two of these in one go, they looked delicious. Mine also sank in the middle immediately I took them out of the oven, and the top broke up easily. I'm not a beginner by any means and hate it when things go wrong! I won't be able to get the three layered effect, but I'll do two instead. I'm a Good Food Magazine fanatic, but I've tried several recipes from these pages and have noticed that misprints in recipes are quite common, along with temperatures and timings. With ingredients so expensive, I'm sad that I've had more than my fair share of disappointing results. Anyone else had any problems with misprints? And do they get rectified by authors when there's a problem?

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• Lacy

  13 December 2008

  Lacy commented on this recipe

  Help! like the above bakers I'm very experienced at baking all types of cake but this one has me beaten, I baked it in a loaf tin as per the recipe but the mixture sunk during baking, it's crispy on the outside and soggy in the middle. It doesn't look at all like the one in the picture. I baked it for the recommended time in a fan oven. Can any one help?

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• Spazmum

  28 December 2008

  Spazmum commented on this recipe

  I made this as an alternative to Christmas pud and it went down a treat! I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out really well. I've just printed the recpie for my son to take back to uni - he wants to impress his friends.

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• Spazmum

  28 December 2008

  Spazmum rated this recipe

  

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• Nate

  28 December 2008

  Nate commented on this recipe

  I had similar problems to those above and ended up baking the cake for a second hour at a much lower temperature, which meant that it turned out perfectly. The problem I had was with the dark chocolate icing. It was so runny that it wouldn't cover the cake, but ended up all over the parchment paper and the floor! I remade it and beat it in the same way as the white chocolate filling and that worked a lot better. It tasted fantastic and went down a treat!

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• Frances MacFadyen

  28 December 2008

  Frances MacFadyen commented on this recipe

  I made this cake in advance for my daughter's birthday on Boxing Day. I didn't have a loaf tin the correct size so I made a round cake. I made it exactly as the recipe and cooked for the stated time in a fan oven. It didn't sink but the edge was quite crumbly. I think the recipe is quite similar to a brownie recipe. The dark icing was a bit runny. Don't really know why you should add the boiled water. Because the edge was crumbly it was difficult to ice tidily and the cake cracked in a couple of places. However once the stars were on it didn't look too bad. Everyone gave it 10/10 for taste. Rated as best cake ever from some chocoholics! It was great to be able to do it in advance and then freeze everything especially for a Boxing Day birthday!

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• Patsy

  29 December 2008

  Patsy commented on this recipe

  I made this with my 11yr old grandson. we found the topping didnt set quickly enough and it went into pools on the tray it was standing on. anyone know where we went wrong? I followed the recipe and having just read the comments it is the same as Nate. First dissapointment I have had from Good food magazine, and the ingredients were expensive. Will not be making it again. Sorry

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• Lucy

  29 December 2008

  Lucy commented on this recipe

  I made this for a family get-together. Like some of the other cooks, my cake sank a bit, but was just about ok to cut into three slices, with a bit of patchwork. The biggest problem was the dark chocolate icing. I used the recipe in the magazine and I don't remember it saying to leave the dark icing to cool and thicken, only the white icing - that might have been my problem, as I used it straight from the pan and it just ran off the cake and sank into pools. Fortunately I had enough cream to make a ganache, just mixing melted chocolate and cream together, and that covered the cake well and hid the many cracks. It tasted great and looked fine in the end, but I could have done without the stress of the icing mess.

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• ruth

  04 January 2009

  ruth commented on this recipe

  made this cake twice because I thought I had made a mistake first time but it fail both times just sank. made a very nice pudding with custard though. the stars work well though

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• Maria Budgen

  10 January 2009

  Maria Budgen rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I made this recipe in daily stages(!) for Xmas Day dessert - so here's my experience! (splitting this up as website can't cope with all my spiel in one go!) Cake mix very easy - no need for electric mixer - it's very wet so can be done by wooden spoon. I used a loaf tin probably a few centimetres broader and shallower than the recipe but very similar and found cake well cooked in 1hr 20mins when I first checked, so grabbed it out quick - it had risen well and cracked at the very top so probably should have come out 10mins earlier. I've got an old gas oven and normally find cakes cook slower than recipes, so was surprised, but oven may have been set a bit over GM3. I let it cool in the tin, then ran knife around and it came out fairly cleanly. Cont'd....

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• Maria Budgen

  10 January 2009

  Maria Budgen commented on this recipe

  (Part 2) Slicing - I chilled it for several hours in a tupperware box in the fridge as I was frightened it would crumble if I tried to slice it too fresh. In fact got my braver other half to do this job - he sliced through one level cleanly, but the second layer crumbled 2/3 way through. White Icing - I knocked up the white icing and chilled this for the hour (only realised this was required a bit late in the day - note you need time for this recipe!). See below tip for patching up. I then reassembled the cake and left in the fridge overnight, before wrapping in foil and freezing next moning. Cont'd...

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• Maria Budgen

  10 January 2009

  Maria Budgen commented on this recipe

  (Part 3) Stars - Meantime I melted the choc for the stars and left tray in our cool porch to set softly before marking with cutter. (Top top: I melted extra dark choc for the drizzle, then used the left over melted dark choc to stick together the broken bits of cake!) A bit later I went back and scored around the star markings then put in fridge overnight along with cake. Next morning the stars peeled off brilliantly with no breakages - very pleased indeed. Choc icing – did this Xmas morning, as I was concerned that it could get messy and loose its gloss if I tried to freeze it fully iced plus was worried the truffles wouldn't stick to dry icing. Left it to cool and thicken slightly and it looked pretty good. Overall effect & taste was great – everyone very impressed and will make it again – though perhaps with just one layer to avoid the crumbling problems when slitting. THE END!

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• Juliette

  13 January 2009

  Juliette commented on this recipe

  I agree with maria it is def. a cake that needs time - I made it over 3 days - with all the leaving it too cool, not wanting to cut it too fresh. I did make it completely and carefully wrapped it to freeze - was worried about the colour of the chocolate icing to start with but once it had defrosted it was fine. It went down extremely well - not as rich as we expected and I think it may will be adapted to become a birthday cake in the future. It did sink a bit but the time I had decorated it you would never have known!

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Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 140g dark chocolate , 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
• 140g butter , cut into pieces
• 2 tsp coffee granules
• 50g self-raising flour
• 50g plain flour
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 140g light muscovado sugar
• 140g golden caster sugar
• 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tbsp soured cream

FOR THE STARS

• 100g white chocolate
• 25g dark chocolate
• 5-6 small chocolate truffles

FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE ICING

• 100ml double cream
• 50g white chocolate , very finely chopped
• 1 tbsp boiling water

FOR THE DARK CHOCOLATE ICING

• 100ml double cream
• 2 tsp golden caster sugar
• 50g dark chocolate , very finely chopped
• 1.5 tbsp boiling water

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Difficulty and servings

Cuts into 12-14 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Cook min 1 hr 30 mins

Prep: 45 mins plus cooling and chilling

Freeze stars separately

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 140g dark chocolate , 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
• 140g butter , cut into pieces
• 2 tsp coffee granules
• 50g self-raising flour
• 50g plain flour
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 140g light muscovado sugar
• 140g golden caster sugar
• 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tbsp soured cream

FOR THE STARS

• 100g white chocolate
• 25g dark chocolate
• 5-6 small chocolate truffles

FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE ICING

• 100ml double cream
• 50g white chocolate , very finely chopped
• 1 tbsp boiling water

FOR THE DARK CHOCOLATE ICING

• 100ml double cream
• 2 tsp golden caster sugar
• 50g dark chocolate , very finely chopped
• 1.5 tbsp boiling water

PER SLICE (FOR 14)

428 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 44g, fat 27 g, saturated fat 16g, fibre 0g, salt 0.33 g

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