At the time Peter explained that this is a huge cake that he has made many times, and when I quickly scanned the ingredients I knew straight away that I wanted to make it too ... but half the size! So rest assured, if you wish to make this as per the original recipe (see main post for link) you can double the ingredients and follow the conventional method with great success (alas too much batter for our blessed Thermomix).

I have chosen to use Dutched cocoa in this cake for its fuller flavour and darker colour, and I want to acknowledge upfront that there is a lot of sugar used for this special occasion cake, but the one thing I have learned over time in baking is that: sugar = moisture, so if you decide to reduce the sugar you may not end up with a lovely moist cake (I use Billington’s unrefined golden caster sugar which is readily available at grocery stores).

I initially made the frosting in the Thermomix (melted it, then stored the ™ bowl in the fridge to allow frosting to firm up before whipping with the butterfly), and whilst it worked, I lost a lot of frosting as it became quite thick and therefore difficult to get off the base of the bowl and butterfly. So with my next attempt I used the microwave and my small hand held beater making the process super simple, clean and easy (if you don't have a hand held electric beater they are very inexpensive, and a wonderful item to have available so I would highly recommend one).

I have given you both the microwave and Thermomix options for melting the frosting, before cooling and whipping with the electric beater.

I have made the frosting using a combination of dark and milk as described in the recipe, as well as all dark chocolate and liked both … so use your preference (for me it is all dark chocolate).