Aero Devils Food Cake

Ever like a filthy recipe but decide it's just not QUITE filthy enough...? Me too. Here we have a Devils Food Cake ft. Aero. I'm a disgusting human I know.. but it really works! - Bekki

Ingredients;

Cake

100g butter at room temperature

200g caster sugar

75g soft brown sugar

2 eggs

200g self raising flour

25g cocoa powder

1tsp baking powder

125ml cooled coffee - either made with 1tbsp instant coffee or strong from a machine

125ml cold milk

1tsp vanilla extract 

Icing

130g butter at room temperature

25g cocoa powder

150g icing sugar

2tbsp milk

1 Aero bar, smashed up

Equipment;

7" loose bottomed cake tin

Oven Temp;

180c/350f/Gas 4

Method;

• Make your coffee and set to one side to cool (you can speed this up by adding the milk right away). Please do not be put off of this recipe due to the coffee - it is not a flavour, it is a flavour enhancer in this recipe. It is there to really bring out the flavour of the chocolate and to counteract the sweetness. Trust me, this is not a coffee flavoured cake.
• For once, this will not be an all-in-one from me. There will actually be some work involved! First off, take your butter and sugars and beat together.
• Add one egg at a time, beating after each until smooth and silky.
• In another bowl weigh out your flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.
• Add the vanilla extract to the coffee and milk mixture which should be fairly cool by now.
• Add a couple of tablespoons of the dry ingredients and combine. Now add a couple of tablespoons of the wet ingredients and combine.
• Continue this until all of the ingredients are combined. If you try and do it all in one, you risk the mixture splitting so it is really worth taking the time to do this properly and slowly.
• Grease and line your cake tin and pour the mixture in. Level it off as much as possible and create a slight dip in the middle. This helps counteract it's natural inclination to rise up more in the middle.
• Pop into the oven and turn down to 160c/325f/Gas 3 and let cook for 45-55 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean.)
• Remove the cake from the tin and allow to cool fully on a wire rack for an hour.
• To make the icing, take all of the ingredients aside from the aero and beat together until smooth. Ensure you sift in the dry ingredients to make for a silky smooth icing.
• If the cake has risen up too much, take a serated knife and level it off. You should only do this once the cake is completely cool as this reduces the likelyhood of snagging and too many crumbs coming loose.
• Dollop all of the icing into the center of the top and using a pallet knife or a spoon, work around the cake until the top and sides are all evenly coated.
• Take your crumbled up Aero and scatter over the top. Viola!

Verdict;

As soon as I uploaded pictures of this onto social media it got a lot of attention, and rightly so. It is a moist, rich and indulgent cake that tastes as though it should cost a fortune to make but in reality, only very basic ingredients are called for. The flavour is chocolatey and rich. The coffee enhances the bitter notes in the cocoa powder which prevents it becoming too sweet. A real treat cake that is very easy to make and a definite go-to recipe for those who enjoy chocolate cake with a twist.