At lunch yesterday, I met up with Julia. She wanted to go to WHSmiths to look at cook books that were on offer so I said I’d go with her. She’s a very bad influence on me and pretty much forced me to buy another cook book – ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration… I saw the Green & Black’s Ultimate chocolate cook book with 75% off, asked her if it was any good (since she owns just about every chocolate recipe book), she said yes, so I bought it. I then had the urge to bake something chocolatey. So instead of cleaning/tidying the house yesterday evening before Julia stays tonight and my parents come up for the weekend, I made myself an early birthday cake. I’m sure Julia won’t mind (she’d much rather have a slice of chocolate cake than see a tidy house) and my parents will understand (they know me well enough to realise that I prefer baking to tidying 🙂
You might have been fooled into thinking that I made something from the new book I got… but I didn’t. Instead, I found the recipe for this on Raspberri Cupcakes – one of my favourite blogs. Despite loving to look at the photos and recipes on the blog, I had never made any of them – until last night. I came across the Rolo cake and it looked suitably indulgent for a birthday cake so I thought I’d give it a go. I adapted it slightly because I wanted to make it look like a giant Rolo.
The verdict? It was really good! After tasting some of the off cuts last night I was worried that the brownie wasn’t sweet enough but with the caramel, the rolo’s in the mixture and the chocolate ganache it was perfect.
Makes 1 giant 7″ Rolo!
400g butter
200g dark chocolate, chopped
4 large eggs
200g caster sugar
200g plain flour
1-2 bags of Rolos – you don’t need all of them but it leaves plenty for eating as your making the cake!
1 can dulce de leche/thick caramel
For the chocolate ganache:
300g milk chocolate, finely chopped
100g plain chocolate, finely chopped
300ml double cream
Preheat the oven to gas mark 3 (150°C, 300°F) and grease and line two 7″ springform tins. Melt the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering (or in the microwave), stirring occasionally until smooth.
Whisk eggs and caster sugar in an electric mixer until thick and pale, fold in the chocolate mixture and then fold in flour until just combined. Pour batter into the prepared tins, smooth top and press 11 Rolos over the surface of each cake. Bake until just firm to touch (45-55 minutes). Cool in the tins for about 30 minutes and then transfer the cakes to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once completely cold, place one on a plate and spread the caramel over the top. Put this in the fridge for about 30 minutes to chill.
Make the ganache by heating the cream in a saucepan until just boiling. Pour this over the chocolate and leave for 5 minutes to melt the chocolate. Stir with a whisk until smooth and glossy and then leave to chill.
Place the second cake on top (upside down) and then very carefully trim the edges to that they have a slight slant like a Rolo – this isn’t necessary unless you want it to look like a giant Rolo (and you want to try the off cuts of the cake before it gets cut into it)! Very carefully, with a spoon, scoop out a thin layer of cake from the middle of the top of the cake to create the dip in the middle of the rolo (again, not necessary unless you want it look like a rolo!). Spread a very thin ganache over the whole cake and then chill in the fridge until set. Cover the whole cake again with the remaining ganache and smooth with a palette knife.
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Gloverly Cupcakes 
Hi Emma. You probably don’t remember us, we used to live opposite you in Fowlmere! We had a lovely evening with your Mum and Dad, at Tony and Amy’s, last night and you and gloverly cupcakes were the topic of conversation for a while……..thought you’d like to know that!!?? I looove the look and sound of this rolo cake….I’m definitely going to try it! …..it’s Hannah’s birthday on the 20th, so what more of an excuse do I need!? Good luck with life and everything and I’m sure you’re brimming with delicious ideas for lots of things for Rebecca’s BIG DAY!!
Love Caroline
Hi Caroline! Thanks for visiting my blog – I’m glad to hear it provided a topic of conversation for you… I think mum’s been telling all her friends about it!
The Rolo cake makes a brilliant birthday cake – you should definitely give it a try. If you do, let me know how you get on!
Waiting for Becky to decide what cake she wants me to make for her wedding but I’ve already started coming up with ideas for her hen do…!
Hope you’re all well – say Happy birthday to Hannah in a couple of weeks, Emma x