Recipe #29: 5-Star Cake *****

Every chocolate is a pool of ecstasy that just beckons you to take a plunge.

-          Me

It is true you know, every chocolate even if it is by the same company has its own unique taste. Take Cadbury for example, the two leading chocolates that the company sells in India are Dairy Milk and 5 Star. While Dairy Milk is your regular plain ol deliciously chocolatey milk chocolate, 5 star on the other hand is a more chewey caramelly bar.

I have used Dairy Milk in my cakes a bunch of time (remember the Chocolate Fudge Cake?) so today I thought I would try something with 5 star. Use the rich mix of chocolate and caramel to my advantage. So today we bake a 5 star cake.

Disclaimer: if you are prone to putting on weight quickly or are addicted to dieting or losing weight then please stop here and read no further because the following content is going to make you drool and go weak in the knees.

Oh well! You were warned.

Now for the rest of us who don’t really give a damn about the buttons of our shirts screaming for relief thanks to the overzealous belly wanting to break free and breathe, yes you! This recipe is perfect for you, probably because there are so many chocolate bars you will empty your neighborhood candy store and all the kids will pelt stones at you. But trust me when you take a bite out of the cake while nursing the bruises you will have the last laugh.

So step one: buy every 5 star you can find. Take my word you will need them all (or you can gobble the rest, don’t give it to those pesky kids).

Rip open the wrappers and cook the bars in a double boiler with a truck load of butter.

While the chocolate melts; sift the salt, flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Mix the vanilla extract in the butter milk and set aside.

Stir the chocolate and butter we don’t want them to burn. Then in a bowl whip the sugar in more butter till frothy, then to this add the eggs one at a time and whip some more. You know if you say it to a tune it could get catchy… whip the butter whip the sugar… add the eggs and whip em together… on second thought… drop it.

Now slowly add the flour and the butter milk to the eggs and mix together. The chocolate and the butter have mixed well by now, stir them into the batter. Pour the dough into a greased baking dish.

Bake at 220 degrees C for 45 minutes or till the tooth pick through the center comes out clean. Once the cake is done let it cool.

For the icing, take the milk and chocolate with some more butter in a sauce pan.

Set it over low heat, keep stirring as the butter melts and chocolate combines with it all. Add the brown sugar, white sugar, raisins and cashews. Cook till thick, add more milk if you think it is too thick.

Now pour the hot topping over the cold cake.

Once the cake has drowned in the icing set it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

By the time you are done submerging the cake in molten chocolate, the pan is going to be a sticky mess. So to make things easier for you I suggest dropping a scoop of ice cream in it and eating it with the wooden spoon, is there a better way to clean a pan and spoon of sticky chocolate? I doubt it.

You can tell that the cake is set when the icing doesn’t stick to your finger when you touch it (I touched it so many times the icing was reduced to half, oh well! It was fun licking my fingers clean though ).

When the cake is set cut into squares…

… and serve the square with vanilla ice cream.

Delicious isn’t it?

Ingredients:

• 6 5-star bars (since each is 27 gms that is 27×6=162 gms of chocolate)
• ½ cup butter
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup butter milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 ¾ cup flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ cup sugar

For Icing:

• 3 5-star bars (since each is 27 gms that is 27×3=81 gms of chocolate)
• 1 tbsp butter
• ½ cup milk
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• Hand full of raisins soaked in water
• Hand full of cashews, unevenly crushed (in a mortar if possible)

Directions:

Cake:

Heat the chocolate and butter in a double boiler till melted, keep stirring.

Mix the vanilla essence in butter milk and set aside.

Sift the flour with salt, baking powder and baking soda to mix well (sift 3-4 times).

In bowl whip the butter and sugar till light and frothy, add the eggs one at a time whip till mixed well.

Mix the flour into the egg with the buttermilk. Stir constantly to avoid lumps (or use the dough blade of the blender)
Once mixed add the melted chocolate to the batter and pour into a greased baking dish.

Bake @ 220 degrees C for 40-45 minutes.
Then set on the rack to cool.

Icing:

In a sauce pan lay the chocolates in milk with butter. Cook over low heat and keep stirring as the butter melts and the chocolate combines with the liquid.

Add the sugars (brown and white), keep stirring till the sugar dissolves. If too thick add more milk.
Turn off the heat and stir in the raisins and cashews.
Pour the hot topping on a cold cake.

Once covered set it in the fridge for 3-4 hours or even over night if possible.

When set, cut into squares… and serve.

Then do a hundred crunches, because those abs will definitely not be showing an appearance for a while.

Note: this recipe is very open to be tried with any chocolate of your choice. I modified the Pioneer Woman’s Milkyway Cake Recipe to suit the mood. You can have a go as per your choice and taste.

Let me know how it turns out.

Happy Cooking.