Box of Chocolates Cake
Preheat the oven to 190˚C (170˚C fan assisted oven, 375˚F, gas mark 5). Grease and line a 20cm (8inch) square cake tin and mini muffin tins. Put the margarine in a mixing bowl, add the sugar and eggs. Sift the flour, Cocoa and Baking Powder on top and using an electric whisk on a low speed, gently blend the ingredients together. Increase the mixer speed and whisk for a few more seconds until well mixed.
Using a teaspoon, drop some of the mixture in to the 16 tins and smooth over the tops – take care not to over fill the tins. Bake for 10-12 minutes until risen and just firm to the touch. Remove from the oven, cool for 5 minutes, then inject half the mini cakes with a small squeeze of Salted Caramel Surprise Inside and inject the other half with the Chocolate variety. Turn onto a wire rack to cool.
Meanwhile, spoon the remaining cake mixture into the square tin, smooth the top and bake for about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool for 5 minutes, then inject pockets of the remaining Surprise Inside fillings at intervals into the cake. Turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
To decorate, break up the Extra Dark Chocolate into pieces and place in a heatproof bowl with 50g (2oz) butter and 30ml (2 tbsp) water. Sit the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water, and leave to melt. Mix well, remove from the water and leave aside for about 15 minutes to cool and form a thick pouring ganache.
Place a clean tray under the rack of mini cakes and place one under the square cake. Carefully pour ganache over the square cake from the middle, in a thin stream, allowing it to drip down the sides of the cake to cover it smoothly – use a palette knife to smooth over any gaps. Carefully transfer to a serving plate or board. Chill for a few minutes to set firm.
Put the hazelnuts on top of 4 cakes. Using the remaining ganache and a teaspoon, cover these mini cakes along with another 4, allowing ganache to drip down the sides - use the back of the spoon to smooth over any gaps. Top 3 plain covered cakes with a Milk Chocolate Heart and leave in a cool place to set.
Melt the Milk Chocolate in the same way. Transfer 15ml (1 tbsp) to a small dish and leave to one side. Melt the remaining butter and mix into the melted chocolate along with 10ml (2 tsp) water. Leave to cool until thick enough to spoon, then cover the remaining 8 mini cakes as above. Top 3 with White Chocolate Hearts.
Re-melt the reserved Milk Chocolate if necessary and spoon into a small uncut piping bag. Snip off the end and pipe lines over the hazelnut cakes and spirals on top of 3 Milk Chocolate ganache covered cakes. Leave to set. Once the ganache is firm, dust the remaining 3 undecorated cakes with Gold Edible Glitter
To assemble the cake, trim away any drips from the bottom edges of the mini cakes to allow them to sit flat and arrange on top of the square cake. Tie with ribbon and decorate with a bow. Your cake is now ready to serve and enjoy!
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