Happy Easter! I hope you all managed to eat plenty of chocolate today…I know my family did!
I’ve had a busy bank holiday weekend so far – I cooked a Mexican feast for 11 on Friday night, went to the Bournemouth Beer Festival yesterday, headed out to breakfast with friends this morning and then to my mums for an Easter egg hunt and roast dinner this afternoon…Where I found time to make this cake I’m not quite sure, but I’m glad I did!
I can’t take any credit for the design of this one – it’s totally copied from one of the many versions doing the rounds on the internet. I used to be creative…I even went to art college and went to Uni to study graphic design! Unfortunately I had run out of ideas by Christmas in my first year so I gave up on that career. I’m now much happier being able to search the internet for inspiration and ideas to adapt!
This cake does take a little while to put together, but if I’m honest, the worst part of it was waiting for the topping to cool/thicken enough before pouring it over the cake! I get very impatient when I can see it coming together and want to rush ahead and finish it. And to be fair, I still did this so the floating pig did sink a little further into the ‘mud’ that he was meant to due to me being too quick to drop him in!
Everyone loved this cake, especially my 3 year old nephew! My nan and grandad were equally as impressed – my nan convinced I’d inherited my skills from her and my grandad quizzing me on what a blog is, who looks at a blog, how I can tell if anyone looks at my blog and why I would write a blog…..mother….please show grandad this so he can understand slightly better than the way I described it!
My biggest tips when making this cake would be…
- Wait for the chocolate/cream mix to cool and thicken before you fill the cake as otherwise it will seep through the kit-kats.
- Wait until the chocolate/cream mix is almost set before dropping the pigs in, otherwise they may sink too low!
- If you’re a beginner, don’t try to make a swirl in the ‘mud’ like in the original photo – it will just look like it’s gone wrong/a mess!
I chose to make the cake a Mississippi Mud Cake as I thought it was pretty apt for the look!
Recipe adapted from the Hummingbird bakery home sweet home book –
[callout title=Ingredients for the cake:]
(This makes 3 cakes – I only used 2 and froze the 3rd)
- 250g unsalted butter – softened
- 600g caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 470g plain flour – sifted
- 140g cocoa powder
- 2tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 375ml buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 375ml boiling water
[/callout]
Method:
- Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 / 160°C (fan) / 180°C and line 3 20cm (8in) cake tins
- In a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment (or using a hand-held electric whisk) cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition
- In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together
- Mix the buttermilk and vanilla extract together in a jug
- Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar – mix well on a medium speed
- Add 1/3 of the buttermilk mixture – mix well on a medium speed
- Repeat these steps until it is all combined
- Slowly add the boiling water, mixing until combined
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cake tins
- Bake for approximately 35-45mins
- Remove from the tins and allow to cool completely before frosting
[callout title=Ingredients for the frosting inside the cake]
- 150g icing sugar – sifted
- 50g unsalted butter, softened
- 20g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp whole milk
[/callout]
Method for making the frosting:
- Using the electric whisk or mixer with the paddle attachment, slowly beat together the icing sugar, cocoa and butter until the butter is completely mixed in (mixture will still be powdery at this stage)
- With the machine still running on a slow speed, gradually pour in the milk
- Once added increase the speed to high and whisk until light and fluffy
- Spread evenly between the two cakes
[callout title=Ingredients for the pigs]
- Ready to roll fondant icing
- Pink food colouring
[/callout]
I can’t really tell you how to make the pigs as it’s up to you how you want them to look! I just mixed in some pink food colouring to the icing and kneaded it well to create a smooth colour. Then I copied the look of the pigs from the orginal image.
[callout title=Ingredients for the chocolate sauce topping]
- 250ml double cream
- 400g milk chocolate
[/callout]
Method for making the chocolate sauce:
- Put your cream in a pan over low heat
- Keep stirring until it just starts to boil
- In between break the chocolate bars into pieces
- When the cream is almost boiling take it from the heat and gradually add chocolate
- Keep stirring until you have a nice smooth mass and then leave to cool stirring every now and again
This is where you need to be patient! Make sure it has cooled and thickened before you take the next steps!
- Break your kitkats in two (if they are the 4 finger variety!) and have them ready
- Once your chocolate sauce has cooled at thickened to a custard consistency you can start smearing it on the sides of your cake. Use a spatula or the back if a knife to do this.
- Once you’ve smeared it all around you can stick your kitkats on. This can be a bit tricky so place them on a slight angle against the cake. When you have gone right around quickly tie your ribbon around the cake. This will pull the kitkats up straight against your cake
- When the left over chocolate sauce is only just fluid pour it over the top of the cake. MAKE SURE IT IS NOT TOO THIN WHEN YOU DO THIS OR IT WILL SEEP BETWEEN THE KITKATS.
- Before it totally sets place your little piggies on the chocolate
- Place in the fridge to set
And that’s that – a great looking cake that tastes good too. We all ate it for pudding and had it with warmed custard. It doesn’t need it, but it was a great addition!
Rach – this looks totally INCREDIBLE!! Legendary.
Thanks!…my next challenge is Peppa Pig and Train cupcakes for 3 year old twins! x
This cake is amazing! I made if for my partners birthday today and she loved it, it looks as good as it tastes, thank you for the recipe 🙂
wow… what a lovely comment! thank you. my sister said exactly the same-it’s rare to find a cake that tastes as good as it looks when heavily decorated!
Love it!! Glad I have found your recipe as I am going to try to recreate this cake this weekend for my son’s 4th birthday, but am substituting the pigs for green tentacled monsters, and the ribbon for fake barbed wire! Eeeek! Wish me luck!!
that sounds amazing! good luck!
Going to attempt to make this for my partners bday!!…. Wish me luck!!!
Good luck! Hope it goes well!
I am new to this website but i have to say your cakes ara amazing!
I made this at the weekend and it looked, and tasted, great.
I got very worried about the ganache at one point though, it took over 2 hours to thicken but got there eventually.
Thanks!
Hi Laura
Thank you and welcome!
I am so glad it went well for you.
Rachel
Wow I loved the cake I made this weekend home it was fab I couldn’t cut into it though!!! 🙂
Ha…yes – you have to cut through the gaps in the kit-kats so it can be difficult! Glad you enjoyed it!
Love the cake gosh its amazing iv made it for sons birthday mine and hubys lol its now a tradition ……..so il be eating 3 of these cakes for a year period ooooh but then again il be passing the recipe on…Well done awesome cake recipe
So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi, I was just wondering if you could give me a time estimate for the ganache to set – I’m making it for my younger sisters birthday next weekend
It will depend on how thick/runny you make it but the longer you can leave it the better. I think I left mine for about 30 minutes and should have left it longer! Hope it goes well x
Loved the look of this cake so I am going to adapt it for Xmas with Xmas trees, Santa, and holly with a dusting of icing sugar on top for snow. I have made the cake in advance due to time and I did find that I didn’t need as much water as was stated. Can’t wait to try it!!!
What a great idea! If you take a photo you should upload it to my Facebook page for everyone to see!
This cake looks incredible. Would you believe that my 41 year old husband has chosen this one for his birthday cake this year… lol… Thank you so very much for your clear instructions and tips x
Heading out now to buy the ingredients…
That’s amazing! I hope they were clear for you to follow and it turned out well!
I made this at the weekend for Easter and my Mum said she has only ever once had a cake that comes close to being as good as this one! Big praise indeed!
This morning one of my work colleagues has asked me to make it for their friend next week.
I have my own blog and would love to link to your recipe if that would be ok?
Hi Cat – wow, thank you for these comments. I love it when people let me know these things. And yes – absolutely fine to link to me on your blog. I’ve just taken a look and your hot cross buns look amazing!
Thank you so much 🙂
I’ve only been doing my blog for around a month and looking at your blog is very inspiring.
I’ll let you know when I have posted my attempt at the cake in case you wanted to look.
I’ve finished my post on this cake if you wanted to look. Thanks again for an amazing recipe!
Hi!
I made this cake for my youngest daughter’s 5 birthday last year, usually there is always left over cake, but not with this cake! (Wish I could show you a pic).
I have come back to search for your recipe for the 2nd time to make for my sisters 41st birthday …. Going to use your cake recipe and chocolate sauce topping for the top tier and fondant on the bottom teir and cover it with flowers rather than little piggies 😉
Thank you for sharing this recipe, it is certainly one to keep!
Regards Yvonne ~ in Sunny South Africa
Hi there! You cake looks perfect! I will try to prepare it . Hope everything will be ok. Iit is good that you made the mud with milk chocolate, i saw many recepies with dark chocolate which I don’ t really like. But my question is how many kit kats did you need to prepare it? For a 9″ cale would it be enough a pack if you 12 double
Kit kats
Hi! I’m sure you will do a great job! I would get 2 packs of kit kats just to be on the safe side…you don’t want to run out just before you finish!!!
Hi just wondering can you bake the cakes prior to decorating and adding the butter cream. If so how long do the plain cakes keep? Thanks
Hi Aimee – yes. If you want to bake the cakes in advance they will keep for a day or two in an airtight container. But even better would be to freeze them until you want to use them. Just make sure they are well wrapped up!