Ingredients

For the Parkin
110g butter, melted and cooled
250g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
225g black treacle
125ml Guinness
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
200g caster sugar

For the frosting (optional)
100g white chocolate (the Green and Black’s white chocolate works really well!)
75ml double cream
60g whole fat cream cheese

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (160C for a fan oven) gas mark 4. Grease a 23 x 10cm loaf tin and line with baking parchment, leaving roughly a 5cm overhang so that you can remove the cake more easily later.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and cloves together in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. Put the treacle and Guinness into a medium pan and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and add the bicarbonate of soda. The mixture will bubble and foam; set aside until it settles down.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until thickened and pale. Drizzle in the butter and whisk to combine. Then whisk the Guinness mixture into the eggs.

5. Sift the flour mixture over the liquid ingredients and gently fold together until combined. Pour into the prepared tin (leave about 1.5cm at the top for the Parkin to rise!) and bake for 1 hour or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.

7. For the frosting, break the white chocolate into a bowl. Heat the double cream in a pan, until very hot but not boiling and pour the hot cream over the white chocolate to melt it. Stir until melted and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

8. Then, spoon the cream cheese into a bowl then gradually add the white chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Set aside to cool a little, until thick enough to ice. When ready, spread the icing over the top of the cake – you could add some sprinkles too if you like.

Enjoy!

I originally used this frosting in a recipe for rich chocolate almond cake, which you may also enjoy!

The post Guinness Parkin appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Last week we had a pre-birthday celebration for our lovely friend Hannah, and everyone brought something along to contribute to the meal. We were set the challenge of making a birthday cake – but what sort of cake do you make for the person who made you the most amazing wedding cake?! So we decided to go for a super-chocolatey cake, but found two recipes that we liked. Tom was in charge of cake making and went for a combination of the two recipes: the first was by Rachel Allen and the second was from The Cooking Ninja blog. I was in charge of the frosting, and this originally comes from a Mary Berry recipe that we also found on the BBC Food website. You’ll need to use a 21cm loose bottomed cake tin, lined on the bottom and buttered on the sides – best to get this ready before you start!

Ingredients

250g good quality dark chocolate (we used Green & Black’s 70%)
210g butter
250g caster sugar
5 eggs
75g ground almonds
50g flaked almonds
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt

For the frosting
200g white chocolate (the Green and Black’s white chocolate works really well!)
150ml double cream
125g whole fat cream cheese

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Toast the flaked almonds a little in a pan.

2. Melt the dark chocolate and the butter in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Separate the eggs; beat the yolks together with the sugar and the cinnamon in a large bowl.

3. Beat the egg whites in another bowl, together with a pinch of salt, until you have stiff peaks.

4. Once the chocolate and butter have melted, add them to the yolks, sugar and cinnamon mixture, along with the ground and toasted flaked almonds. Mix well before folding in the egg whites.

5. Bake for around 45 minutes and then leave to cool in the tin.

6. For the icing, break the white chocolate into a bowl. Heat the double cream in a pan, until very hot but not boiling and pour the hot cream over the white chocolate to melt it. Stir until melted and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

7. Spoon the cream cheese into a bowl then gradually add the white chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Set aside to cool a little, until thick enough to ice.

8. Spread the icing over the top and sides of the cake. I sprinkled some white chocolate stars over the top to make it look extra special.

This is a really rich and indulgent cake – if you’ve got a sweet tooth like me then you’ll love it! Enjoy!

The post Rich chocolate almond cake with white chocolate frosting appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.