Chocolate traybake with feather icing by Mary Berry

A chocolate sponge topped with a milk chocolate icing feathered with white chocolate makes this a great cake to share for a birthday party for the young as they love milk chocolate. Decorate it as you like - try topping it with sweets, chopped chocolate bars, marshmallows or lots and lots of candles! If it’s for a more sophisticated occasion use about 40% cocoa solids dark chocolate.

Equipment and preparation: you will need a small piping bag and a 30x23cm/12x9in traybake tin greased and base lined with baking parchment.

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 50g/1¾oz cocoa powder
• 6 tbsp boiling water
• 100g/3½oz baking spread or soft butter
• 275g/9¾oz caster sugar
• 3 large free-range eggs
• 125ml/4fl oz milk
• 175g/6oz self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

For the icing

• 3-4 tbsp warmed, sieved apricot jam
• 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
• 200g/7oz milk chocolate, finely chopped or grated

For the decoration

• 50g/1¾oz white chocolate

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 (160C fan).
2. Put the cocoa in a large bowl, add the boiling water and mix until smooth. Add the baking spread or butter and beat into the cocoa until smooth, then add the remaining cake ingredients and mix until combined – this can be done in a mixer or by hand.
3. Pour into the tin, spread evenly and bake in the preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until well risen, just firm to the touch and shrinking away from the sides of the tin. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and peel off the baking parchment. Brush the top of the cake with apricot jam and leave to cool completely
4. For the icing, warm the cream in a small pan until hot, then add the milk chocolate and stir until completely melted and smooth. Leave to cool a little so that it is a thick pouring consistency (this won’t take long depending on room temperature). Pour the icing over the cake, spreading out with a palette knife to cover the cake completely.
5. To decorate, melt the white chocolate in a small bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Place in a small piping bag, snip the end and pipe in lines down the cake, about 1cm/½in apart. Using a cocktail stick, drag through the white chocolate in opposite directions across the cake to give a feathered effect.

Further recipes from the series -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/programmes/p01s4qjf