Friday, January 21, 2011

IS IT A CAKE, IS IT A BAR?





It's  The Cake Slice Bakers post time again - seems to have rolled around really quickly this month for some reason.  I actually made this "cake" during the Christmas holidays - and brought it down to my sister's house.  I can't actually remember the exact occasion now (old age hitting?!!) but I do remember that I had to grab a corner as I was leaving so I could report on the taste to you guys - you can thank me in flowers!!!!!!!!

The reason I write "cake" is that the finished article while delicious, was nearer a traybake type bar than a cake - to be blunt, it was  flat - not quite as flat as a pancake (!) but far too flat for a cake.  If I make it again (and I think I will) I intend to make double the cake mixture in the same size tin - should result in a more worthwhile eating experience!

I thought that the cake was delicious, and the fact that it used ground digestive biscuits (graham crackers in the States) in place of most of the flour (only .25 cup of flour in the recipe) made it really interesting.  The cake had a lovely grainy texture and wasn't too sweet - which was a good job because the frosting certainly made up for that!  The chocolate chips married well with the biscuity flavour of the cake, with a bit of fiddling this could be great.

Once again my stockpiling trips to Harvey Nicks paid dividends, as Marshmallow Fluff was called for in the frosting, and I haven't seen it anywhere else here in Ireland.  I made a half quantity of the frosting (I always find that there is too much icing/frosting in recipes - must be the fact that I don't have a sweet tooth!!!!!) and this was plenty.  I chose to ice my cake with the frosting rather than dollop it on each slice as stipulated in the recipe, this made it easier to transport and I just prefer it that way!

Here's the recipe (as I made it) it's worth a try!





Chocolate Chip Snacking Cake
adapted from Lauren Chattman's "Cake Keeper Cakes"



CAKE

1 cup            ground digestive biscuits
.25 cup         plain flour
1 tsp             baking powder
.25 tsp          salt
6 tbsp/3oz     butter
.25 cup         sugar
1                   large egg
1                   large egg yolk
1 tsp             vanilla extract
.25 cup         milk
.5 cup           chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate chopped up)


FROSTING

.25 cup/1 oz butter
.25 cup         icing sugar
.25 cup         Marshmallow Fluff
.5 tsp            vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F
Grease an 8"/20cm cake tin and dust with flour.

Combine the biscuit crumbs, flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl.
Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy and light (about 3 minutes), remember to scrape down the sides as you go.
Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla with the mixer turned down to low - beat until smooth.
Keeping the mixer on low add  1/3 the flour mixture then 1/2 the milk, repeat, ending with the flour until well combined - again remember to scrape down the sides as you go.
Stir in the chocolate chips/pieces with a spoon.
Spoon the batter into the cake tin and smooth out.
Bake until a skewer comes out clean - about 35 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.
Cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the frosting -
Beat the butter until creamy and smooth.
Add the sugar slowly with the mixer on low (otherwise you will be breathing in a sugar cloud!!).
Stir in the vanilla and Marshmallow Fluff and beat until smooth.

When completely cooled spread the frosting on the cake and serve.

Enjoy.

44 comments:

Manu said...

Is it a cake is it a bar? . . . I don't know but looks delicious! ♥

Beth said...

It's a lovely cake. If you doubled it, you could make it in two pans and treat them as layers. Of course then you could use all that frosting!

Gloria Baker said...

I dont know but look absolutely delicious and yummy!! I love! gloria

SavoringTime in the Kitchen said...

What a delicious-sounding cake! I don't care for lots of frosting either and wonder how this would taste with a dollop of whipped cream instead.

From Beyond My Kitchen Window said...

I don't think it really matters what it is as long as there is a glass of cold milk. YUM!!

Unknown said...

I agree glass of cold milk and call it what you will! happy weekend to you

Brownieville Girl said...

Thanks Manu!

Great idea Beth - that would be the way to go!

Thank you Gloria.

STinK - good idea, or maybe some slightly sweetened mascarpone!

FBMKW and Jennifurla - hadn't thought of the cold milk - I'm a big mug of coffee girl (much less healthy!!)

laurie said...

Cake or bar...either way looks like a winner!

Flavia Galasso said...

Is it a cake? Is it a bar?...I know it is GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD...happy weekend, hugs, Flavia

Unknown said...

just one giant bar...? love your marshmallow fluff frosting... delicious...... and that bar looks like it would slide nicely into an envelope... if you get my drift x

Care Bear said...

I love that it sparkles!

Evelyn said...

I think when I make it next time I might use digestives instead of graham crackers, see if there is any difference. I love that you made it sparkle!

Please Do Not Feed The Animals. said...

Ooh I wonder if it is better with digestives? I thought the Graham crackers tasted more like Rich teas and were quite dry so digestives might just be an improvement!

teresa said...

either way, i'd be happy to eat it up!

Cream until Fluffy said...

I love the sparkles and silver balls! Looks really pretty :)

My Farmhouse Kitchen said...

now that is one cute CAKE !!!!! darling...


happy to see you at FARMHOUSE, my friend

kary and teddy
xxx

Angela said...

I don't know if it is a cake or a bar but it looks delicious!

chow and chatter said...

looks great I remember those silver balls from when I was young thanks for the congrats

Emily said...

Its a sparkling feast!

Annie said...

cake or bar? whatever, it looks good! p.s. thanks for stopping by my post!

Chele said...

Loving the sprinkles. Sounds a very interesting bake.

cocoa and coconut said...

I love the glitter on it!

mr. pineapple man said...

yum!!! the sprinkles are so cool!

Anonymous said...

Love how you "glammed up" your cake with all the sparkles! Thank you for commenting on mine and wishing me a happy birthday.

Chocolate Here said...

Looks like cake to me! I saw that Marshmallow fluff at Harvey Nics but was never sure what to do with it - now I know - Thanks.

Victor said...

Your title got me curious. I also had this dilemna.

I also bake the "cake" that thin. I top it with maple syrup, raspberries and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

thecelticcookinshanghai said...

Never heard of a cake made with digestives, sounds interesting. As long as it tasted good then it was worth the effort.

Anonymous said...

mm I don't think I even care what it is, it looks delicious!

Unknown said...

Cake or bar, I'm not complaining... I think it depends which way you slice it!

Katie said...

Looks delicious and I'm pleased to hear it works with digestive biscuits too

The Caked Crusader said...

That's always my tactic - if it isn't big enough double the quantities! Looks great...I like the idea of "snacking cake"

The Food Hunter said...

When something looks that good it doesn't matter if it's cake or bar :-)

Mary said...

Cake? Bar? I don't know, but cut me a slice, please?! I love digestive biscuits (they are better than graham crackers, unless the graham crackers are homemade). I've never had a cake made with them, so I've bookmarked this. I might use cream cheese icing instead of the marshmallow stuff, though.
:)

Zoe said...

I love the idea of using digestive biscuits in this cake (or bar) mix. Got to bookmark this to make a layer cake or a bar with chocolate chips instead of frosting. That will be differentiate this identity of this recipe better :D

Miss Meat and Potatoes said...

There is something so appealing about the idea of a 'snack cake' - now you've gone and made it gorgeous to boot. I love, love, love the look and sound of this. Thanks for sharing!

Domestic Goddess Wannabe said...

Looks yummy. I am intrigued now about Marshmallow Fluff. Think my baking cupboard needs to have this in it!

Choclette said...

That sounds really interesting - I always wondered what Graham Crackers were.

Susan at www.ugogrrl.com said...

So festive and so fun - can't wait to try!

I have been "googling" some of the ingredients that you use in many of your recipes since several are different than we have here in the states. I love it! I find it all so interesting! Thanks for sharing!

Susan www.ugogrrl.com

Monica H said...

I'm glad you liked the cake! I agree with you that it could have used less frosting. I like your decoration on top too :-)

Edel said...

It looks gorgeous!!!! Is there anything I could use instead of marshmallow fluff as I can't seem to find it anywhere???
I had also been wondering about Graham Crackers .. thanks for letting us know they are like digestive biscuits.. :0)

All That's Left Are The Crumbs said...

Mine was quite flat too. I love how you decorated you cake.

My Little Space said...

What to bother! It looks delicious. No one will ever realzed it. By the end of the day, everything ended up in the belly with happy thoughts. :o) Have fun!
Cheers, Kristy

Brownieville Girl said...

Thanks everyone :-}}}}}

Edel - you can melt marshmallows or actually, I think I would just add a cream cheese icing instead.

Kelly-Jane said...

I've not heard of this group (living under a rock!) looks lovely, going to check out your link :)