…by a mile and a half – Grannymar’s scrumptious Death by Chocolate! Thanks to everyone who voted 🙂
OK, it took me until 10 days until after my birthday to make it, but I’m a firm believer that any treat in the month running up to and after your birthday is fully justified for celebratory purposes.
I halved the recipe – otherwise we really would keel over – and used a 7-inch tin, which worked out pretty well.
The only tricky bit was slicing the cake into three layers (tongue stuck out of the corner of my mouth in deep concentration) and then brushing each one with melted white chocolate. I should have used the trick of freezing the layers for a short while, then brushing off the crumbs to make it easier to apply the melted chocolate and stop those pesky crumbs mixing into it.
But that’s just me needing to sharpen up my cake assembly/decoration skills and has nothing to do with how delicious this is. Nom, nom, nom!
And, since it’s my birthday cake, it’s only right to play nicely and share. Anyone want some?
little bird eats... 
17 comments
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September 3, 2008 at 10:14 am
Catherine
Oh, me, me, pick me! Looks *amazing*.
September 3, 2008 at 10:14 am
Grannymar
It look yummy!
Did you slice the cake with an electric knife? It gives a cleaner cut with less crumbs.
BUT! Mind your fingers!
September 3, 2008 at 10:23 am
Jen
Hey Catherine.
Here you go! It tastes amazing too 🙂 I’ve got that tingly chocolate rush going on as I type…
Hi Grannymar.
No – just a normal one, I’m afraid. Sounds like a good investment though for a more elegant slice. And I promise to be careful! I’ve got stumpy fingers already, I don’t need to make them any shorter!
September 3, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Yvonne
That looks gorgeously rich…I am so incredibly jealous of you now. I want some!!!
September 3, 2008 at 12:21 pm
manuel
now make the rest hehehehehehe
September 3, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Deborah
Oh yum! Been meaning to try this too will try for himself’s birthday in a couple of weeks. Looks heavenly… be over in a bit for my slice! 😉
September 4, 2008 at 10:21 am
Jen
Hey Yvonne.
It is definitely jam-packed with chocolate, cream and butter. All the essentials for a good birthday cake 🙂 But small. dainty slices are the key, methinks.
Hi Manuel.
🙂 Yeah – I was a right chicken on that score. But there’s something like a kilogram of chocolate in the big version! Not that the smaller version is any healthier!
Hiya Debs.
Pop round whenever you like 🙂 Cos we left in a hurry to come over to Edinburgh, we’ve put some in the freezer as an experiment. Don’t know how that’ll work but it’s worth a try…
September 5, 2008 at 7:46 am
English Mum
Tell you what, girl, I need some food photography tips off you. That looks stunning! Oh, and DHL me a wodge, would you? x
September 5, 2008 at 11:00 am
Trekkie
Sitting here wiv me mouth open, waiting for you to lob a slice into it!!!!!
God, I’m sooooo elegant.
September 6, 2008 at 10:49 am
Jen
Hey EM.
Why thank you m’dear 🙂 But for every half decent pic, there are about another 30 blurry ones… There are some great links out there on food photography and I’d love to learn more (although I think it starts to get complicated/expensive after a while, with light boxes and whatnot). I haven’t got access to them right now, but I’ll post them when I get a chance.
Hiya Trekkie.
There you go… One slice lobbed over 🙂 Trust me, there was absolutely nothing elegant about the way I ate my portion! Messy cake eaters of the world unite!
September 6, 2008 at 8:12 pm
holler
I’ll have a slice! It looks divine. Well worth the wait 🙂
I can’t believe you were able to slice that into three pieces! Gold star to you!
September 7, 2008 at 9:05 pm
lorraine@italianfoodies
It’s my birthday on Tues, will you make me one?:)
September 8, 2008 at 8:14 am
the caked crusader
Wow – I think the best cake won! Looks delicious
September 8, 2008 at 1:08 pm
aforkfulofspaghetti
Do I want some?
Hell, no. I want it ALL! 😉
September 9, 2008 at 11:33 am
Jen
Hey Holler.
Here you go! It was a bit of a faff getting it into three bits, that’s for sure. And one of them was rather thin, so it broke up a bit when I was transferring it back into the tin. Luckily, a bit of patch-up work did the trick!
Happy birthday Lor!
I can’t make one for you today but I can send something down to Limerick with Sarah on Friday 🙂 She’s staying with us while she works in Dub for a bit and going home to Limerick at weekends. I bet I could persuade her to stop by the shop…
Hiya CC.
It definitely did. Although I am tempted to try making all the others as well at some point… In fact, I really have to make the rest of them too…
Hey Forkful.
With all these other gannets around, you’re going to have to settle for a slice, I’m afraid 😉 Here you go!
PS – I can’t access your blog any more – do I need a password?
September 12, 2008 at 10:35 pm
holler
I am still impressed Jen. I just know it would be an utter and complete disaster if I tried to cut a cake in three like that, huh!
September 15, 2008 at 11:28 am
Jen
Cheers Holler 🙂