Chocolate and Toffee Marathon Cake

I recently got asked to make a cake for a charity event and was more than happy to put my baking mitts on for a good cause. Two girls are running the London marathon to raise money for PhabKids charity who promote and encourage people with and without physical disabilities to come together on equal terms.

If i was more skilled in the art of sugar paste i had ideas of grandeur and wanted to create a cake with a running track but instead created an athletes nightmare in the form of the world's most unhealthy cake. I have created a 4 layer cake with  2 x chocolate sponges and 2 x sticky toffee pudding sponges with toffee and chocolate fudge buttercream... as i said nice and light!


To make your chocolate sponges you will need:
6 eggs (seperated)
100g cocoa powder
100g melted unsalted butter
85g muscavado sugar
2-3 tbsp milk
150g melted dark chocolate (70% cocoa or more)

To make your toffee sponges:
180g stoned medjool dates
250ml of black tea
1/2 tsp baking powder
85g unsalted butter
180g Self raising flour
1/2 tsp of mixed spice
180g golden sugar
2 eggs beaten

For your Sticky Toffee Sauce ( you will need half for your butter icing):
150ml double cream
100g golden caster sugar
100g unsalted butter

Chocolate Fudge Icing:
100g dark chocolate
50g unsalted butter
200g icing sugar

Toffee Icing:
250g unsalted butter
400g icing sugar
half of your sticky toffee sauce

1. To make your Chocolate sponges seperate your eggs and to your yolks add your cocoa powder and melted dark chocolate and melted butter and put to one side. Whisk up your egg whites until light and fluffy and then slowly add your muscavado sugar until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Gently fold in your chocolate mixture into the egg whites and when folded in half your mixture and put it into two greased and lined victoria sponge tins. Place into a pre-heated oven at 160° for 30 minutes.

2. In the meantime you can make your toffee sponges. Place your dates and tea into a saucepan on a medium heat with the 1/2 tsp of baking powder for 4 minutes. In a mixing bowl cream your sugar and butter and then slowly whisk in your mixed spice flour and eggs. Finally whisk in your date mixture and half the mixture and pour each half into a greased and lined victoria sandwich tin. Bake these for 20 minutes at 160°.

3. Leave all your cakes to cool for half an hour. Once cooled make your sticky toffee sauce by melting your cream, butter and golden caster sugar together. Prick all of your sponges and pour over the toffee sauce to let the sponges absorb the sauce.

4. To make your toffee butter cream, cream together your butter and icing sugar and then whisk in the other half of your toffee sauce once it is cooled. Now layer your cake with Chocolate sponge, a layer of butter cream, toffee sponge, a layer of butter cream and repeat this with your two other sponges. On the top layer do not cover with butter cream.

5. Put this in the fridge to let the butter cream firm up. In the meantime you can make the chocolate fudge icing. Melt your chocolate and mix this into creamed butter and icing sugar. Thinly spread this over the entire cake so it is completely covered, the neater the better. 

6. You can decorate this however you wish, I chose to cover it in my favourite chocolate bars and then drizzled white chocolate over the top! This is a slightly time consuming recipe but for special occasions and worthy causes it is worth taking the time as it looks great! 

For more information on the charity Hannah and Ellie were raising money for, Phab Kids website: http://www.phabkids.co.uk/