Chocolate Fruit Basket Cake Recipes

CHOCOLATE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Put the butter, sugar, chocolate, brandy, vanilla and dried fruits into a large saucepan. Heat gently, stirring occasionally until everything has melted together. Remove from the heat.
• Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Line a deep cake tin, 20cm round or 18cm square, with a double layer of baking parchment. Wrap a few layers of newspaper around the outside and secure with string.
• Mix the flour, almonds, cocoa and spice together. Stir the eggs into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture in the saucepan, followed by the flour mixture. Scrape into your prepared tin and bake for 1½ hrs- 1 hr 45 mins or until a skewer poked in comes out clean. Cool in the tin, then decorate (see 'Goes well with', right, for decoration ideas). Greaseproof-wrapped cake will keep for 2 months in an airtight container.

STRAWBERRY BASKET CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper. Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in sour cream, orange juice, orange peel and vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients and beat until well blended. Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth tops.
• Bake cakes until light golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 28 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on rack 30 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks and cool completely.
• Meanwhile, hull and slice 1 basket strawberries. Place in medium bowl. Add preserves and 2 tablespoons sugar; toss to blend. Let stand at room temperature until juices form, about 2 hours.
• Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Top with sliced berry mixture in even layer. Spread 1 3/4 cups Whipped Crème Fraîche over berry mixture. Top with second cake layer, flat side down, pressing slightly. To make basket weave, spread 1 1/4 cups Whipped Crème Fraîche over top and sides of cake; then follow directions in the box at right. Or to frost simply, spread all of Whipped Crème Fraîche over top and sides of cake. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate.) Mound remaining whole berries in center of cake.
• How to Pipe a Basket Weave
• 1. Using a ruler to measure and a skewer to mark, draw vertical lines at 3/4-inch intervals on sides of frosted cake. Fit a pastry bag with a plain round tip; fill with 1 cup frosting. Pipe a vertical cord of frosting from top to bottom of cake over one drawn line.
• 2. Using another pastry bag fitted with a basket-weave tip and filled with 2 cups frosting, pipe a short horizontal ribbon across cord, extending ribbon from the drawn line to the left of the cord to the drawn line on the right. Repeat, piping horizontal ribbons down the length of the cord, leaving a space between ribbons that is the same width as the ribbons.
• 3. Pipe another vertical cord over the next drawn line. The cord should touch the end of the adjacent ribbons.
• 4. Pipe short horizontal ribbons over second cord to fill the spaces between ribbons on the first cord. (Start each ribbon at the edge of-but don't cover-the first vertical cord. Pipe ribbon over second cord, ending at next drawn vertical line.) Repeat, alternating between piping ribbons and cords to finish basket weave.
• 5. Fit another pastry bag with star tip; fill with 1 cup frosting. Pipe frosting around top edge of cake.

CHOCOLATE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Line the sides and bottom of an 8 by 3 1/2-inch deep, round loose-bottomed cake tin with a layer of reusable silicon baking parchment. When lining the tin with the parchment, cut the material into strips that are twice as high as the tin itself (it is easier to use two shorter strips of parchment, than one long strip); the height of the strips protects the cake from catching on the outside of the cake tin.
• Place the fruit, butter, sugar, honey, coffee liqueur, orange zest and juice, mixed spice and cocoa into a large wide saucepan. Heat the mixture until it reaches a gentle boil, stirring the mixture as the butter melts. Let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, the mixture will have cooled a little. Add the eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and baking soda, and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula until the ingredients have combined.
• Carefully pour the fruitcake mixture into the lined cake tin. Transfer the cake tin to the oven and bake for 1 3/4 to 2 hours, or until the top of the cake is firm but will has a shiny and sticky look. At this point, if you insert a sharp knife into the middle of the cake, the cake should still be a little uncooked in the middle.
• Place the cake on a cooling rack. Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin.
• To decorate, place the chocolate-covered coffee beans in the centre of the cake and arrange edible gold stars around the perimeter of the top of the cake (if you can find them- not listed in ingredients as Zaar will not accept). Then sprinkle some gold mini-balls over the whole cake and sprinkle the top with edible glitter.

ONE BOWL CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare two 8-inch round cake pans with grease and flour.
• In a bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer), add cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed until just combined.
• Slowly add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.
• Divide the batter between pans. Bake until set and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out with a few crumbs (but not wet batter), about 25-30 minutes.
• Let cool for 15 minutes. Turn out from pans. Transfer to wire racks. Let cool completely as you make the whipped cream.
• In a large bowl, whip cream until soft peaks are just about to form. Add in vanilla and confectioners' sugar until stiff peaks form, making sure not to overbeat.
• Set one of the 8-inch round cakes on a cake stand.
• Spread about 1 cup of whipped cream over the cake with an offset spatula.
• Set the second cake on top of the first cake. Cover the second cake in whipped cream.
• Place the fruit on the lower edge of the cake. Then, place more fruit on top of the second cake. Garnish with baby's breath (optional, but remove before eating the cake).

CHOCOLATE FRUIT BASKET CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using two greased 9-in. round baking pans. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake. Separate candy bars; lightly press into sides of cake. Arrange berries on top; brush with preserves. Garnish with mint if desired.

CHOCOLATE FRUIT BASKET CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using two greased 9-in. round baking pans. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
• Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake. Separate candy bars; lightly press into sides of cake. Arrange berries on top; brush with preserves. Garnish with mint if desired. Yield: 12 servings. How-To: To keep the cake stand clean while frosting, line the edge with 3-in. strips of waxed paper. Center the first cake layer over the strips. When finished frosting, carefully remove strips one piece at a time. See cake stand»

CHOCOLATE FRUIT CAKE

Steps:

• Coarsely chop plums. Mix plums together with raisins, sultanas, butter, sugar, honey and brandy in a saucepan. Add orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and star anise. Simmer over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes while stirring. Then leave to cool and remove star anise.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C (approximately 350°F).
• Beat eggs in a bowl. Add flour, cocoa, almonds and baking powder and mix in with the fruit mixture. Butter cake pan, sprinkle with flour and pour in prepared batter. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1.5 hours. Remove from oven and let cool completely in the pan. Gently remove cake from the pan. Melt chocolate, drizzle over the cake and let it dry.

CHOCOLATE FRUIT BASKET

Steps:

• Sieve maida and cocoa together.
• Beat the butter and icing sugar well.
• Add vanilla essence and beat again (optional).
• Add the sieved mixture to it and mix well.
• Fit a star nozzle to a piping bag, fill with the mixture and pipe rounds in individual basket moulds (approx. 8 moulds).
• Bake in oven at moderate temperature of 180ªC/350ªF for about 25 minutes.
• Cool and un-mould the baskets.
• Beat cream and sugar meant for icing.
• Fill the baskets with fruit pieces and pipe the sweetened cream on top.
• Decorate it with strawberries.