Chocolate and raspberry Kitkat gateau – again!

Having had a practise bake last weekend (!), this weekend was actually my friend’s hen do and so time to make my second chocolate and raspberry Kitkat gateau. Making it for the second time was definitely easier – having made a few mistakes last week, I followed my own instructions and tips this time and it was actually a fairly easy and simple cake to bake.

I did make a couple of changes this time – I didn’t have much raspberry liqueur left and so I had a search through our alcohol cupboard and found a bottle of plum brandy and decided to use that in the cake instead. You can’t really taste the alcohol in the cake but it does add an extra depth and slight fruitiness to the cake and so I figured changing the type of alcohol shouldn’t affect the flavour too much. I’m not sure if adding the alcohol rather than just water affects the texture at all – will test this out next week when I have to make another chocolate cake – this time for a four-year-old’s birthday so no alcohol in this one!

Last week, I wasn’t that keen on the chocolate icing so I decided to make a few changes. This time, I added a tablespoon of cocoa, to increase the chocolate flavour and reduce the sweetness. Instead of the raspberry liqueur, I added a tablespoon of very strong coffee (1 tsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 tblsp hot water) and also 1 tsp salt. You can’t taste the coffee but adding it helps to reduce the sweetness and intensify the chocolate flavour; the salt similarly helps to bring out the chocolate flavour. For me, these changes definitely helped to improve the icing – adapted recipe below.     

The only other change was to use three different types of Kitkat on the outside – dark, milk and Cookies and Cream (topped with white chocolate) – just for a slightly different look.

Chocolate icing:

Ingredients

1. 175 grams dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
2. 250 grams unsalted butter (softened)
3. 275 grams icing sugar (sifted)
4. 1 tblsp cocoa (sifted)
5. 1 tbsp strong coffee (1 tsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 tblsp hot water)
6. 1 tsp salt

Method

1. Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water, and set aside to cool slightly.
2. In another bowl, beat the butter until it's soft and creamy.
3. Add the sieved icing sugar, cocoa, salt and coffee.
4. Beat again until light and fluffy.
5. Add the chocolate and mix together until everything is glossy and smooth.