This chocolate cake recipe is part of my family heritage. During my childhood this cake was the classic birthday cake with a rich Parisian cream filling this cake is definitely for chocoholics. You can use these basic recipes of the sponge and the cream for plenty of desserts.


This time I've prepared this cake for the birthday of my husband... who really likes to care about his beard! A bit earlier than the actual date but on workdays, I would not be able to manage what I've planned for this occasion so it will be a real surprise for him I guess!


During our hiking holiday in Wales, I've got a message from Zsófi, a Hungarian expat, living in London. She started her own business while setting up her own online shop, called Delicious Choice, and invited me to do some collaboration.


She is selling cake decoration products of a Hungarian manufacturer, here in the UK, and contacted me in the right time because I was able to try some of their fondants and decoration items on a cake what is very important for me since it will be for my beloved man.


For the 'Beard' edition, I've built up a cake according to the recipe below (with a triple chocolate sponge and double filling quantities), and let the cake to chill in the fridge overnight. On the following day, I've covered the firm Parisian cream with piping gel, rolled the fondants, and covered the cake with them while gently removed the air bubbles from under the fondant. I've created the beard from stiff consistency buttercream and used a Wilton grass tip no. 233. I've painted the text with edible food coloring directly on the fondant. I think I got the result I've imagined, so I hope it will be a great Birthday Cake!

Now let's see how to make the sponge and the cream filling.

Ingredients


Normal sponge

  • 4 eggs
  • 6 tbsp sugar
  • 7 tbsp flour, sifted
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp baking powder


Chocolate sponge

  • 4 eggs
  • 6 tbsp sugar
  • 4 tbsp flour, sifted
  • 3 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp baking powder


Parisian cream

  • 200 ml single cream
  • 200 g sugar
  • 250 g unsalted butter
  • 100 g cocoa powder, sifted

Instructions


Sponge

  1. Separate the eggs, and mix the yolks with the sugar by a hand mixer till it will be pale in colour, then mix it with the water.
  2. Whip the egg whites till you get a stable foam.
  3. Incorporate the flour (or the flour plus cocoa if you are baking the chocolate sponge) and the baking powder into the egg yolk mixture.
  4. Fold the egg white foam gently into the mixture.
  5. Pour the batter into a lined medium size (diameter: 18-20 cm) cake tin.
  6. Bake the sponge at 180 °C till it will pass the toothpick test.
  7. Let the crust chill till room temperature before filling.


Parisian cream filling

  1. Boil the cream and the sugar at a high temperature for 7 minutes.
  2. Add the butter and boil it at a high temperature for 5 minutes.
  3. Take off the pot from the stove and incorporate the cocoa powder into the hot, but not boiling mixture till you get a smooth, silky texture.
  4. When it's at room temperature, put it in the fridge till it will be solid like butter. It takes a while, so don't forget it when you schedule the preparation.
  5. When the filling has a firm, butter texture whip it till you get a spreadable, smooth chocolate cream.
  6. Now your cream filling is ready to fill in between the crust layers and/or cover the cake with it.
Chocolate Cake With Parisian Cream - Photo by © Reka Csulak

Chocolate Cake With Parisian Cream - Photo by © Reka Csulak

Chocolate Cake With Parisian Cream Halloween Edition With Meringue Ghosts - Photo by © Reka Csulak

Halloween Edition With Meringue Ghosts - Photo by © Reka Csulak

I prepared a fun version of this cake for the birthday of my (ex-) husband... who really likes to care about his beard! A bit earlier than the actual date but on workdays, I would not be able to manage what I've planned for this occasion so it will be a real surprise for him I guess!


During our hiking holiday in Wales, I've got a message from Zsófi, a Hungarian ex-pat, living in London. She started her own business while setting up her own online shop, called Delicious Choice, and invited me to do some collaboration.


She is selling cake decoration products of a Hungarian manufacturer, here in the UK, and contacted me at the right time because I was able to try some of their fondants and decoration items on a cake which is very important for me since it will be for my beloved man.


For the 'Beard' edition, I've built up a cake according to the recipe below (with a triple chocolate sponge and double filling quantities), and let the cake chill in the fridge overnight. On the following day, I've covered the firm Parisian cream with piping gel, rolled the fondants, and covered the cake with them while gently removing the air bubbles from under the fondant. I've created the beard from stiff consistency buttercream and used a Wilton grass tip no. 233. I've painted the text with edible food colouring directly on the fondant. I think I got the result I've imagined, so I hope it will be a great Birthday Cake!

Beard Edition - Photo by © Reka Csulak

Beard Edition - Photo by © Reka Csulak

UPDATE

If you order from Delicious Choice, add the HOLYWHISK15 code to 'Order and delivery comments', and you will get 15% refund -excluded shipping prices-!

Important: The 15% refund will be completed by Delicious Choice on the orders placed on their website, but this promotion doesn't concern shipping prices. If you have any questions about the promotion code or your refund, please contact Delicious Choice here.


I would like to say thank you for Zsófi, to let me try their products, it was so fun to create what I was thinking about for months!

Did YOU try this recipe?


SHARE & SHOW ME THE RESULT by tagging

@rekacsulaK on your social media posts.

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