Edmond's Chocolate Cake with Lemon Buttercream

I didn’t grow up with Edmond’s in my life because I didn’t grow up in New Zealand but I see the company everywhere. When I talk to Kiwis they always tell me how they grew up with the Edmond’s Cookbook. It seems to be a staple in most Kiwi homes from a very young age.
After receiving the new Edmond’s Best of Baking cookbook, I can definitely see why. The recipes inside are easy to follow and cover a large range of basics like slices, savouries and cakes. If you’re just starting out with baking, this is a fantastic book to help you experiment with the basics. My favourite part of the book is that I could take one of the recipes and make it as simple or as fancy as I liked.
We went to a games and movie night and I took this fantastically rich chocolate cake along with us. It was a big hit!

Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you I’ve always been a fan of chocolate cake. I won’t lie, if I’m asked what cake I’d like, it’ll always be chocolate.
I like to eat chocolate cake that’s been heated in the microwave slightly and smothered in cream. If I ever committed some horrendous crime and had to request a last supper, it would be chocolate cake with cream. In Edmond’s Best of Baking, this chocolate cake can be turned into a Black Forest Cherry Cake with the addition of kirsch and cherries. I had neither in my kitchen so I opted for a lighter option. I popped a bit of warm three berry jam between the layers and spread a light lemon buttercream over the cake to get a naked effect.
If you’re interested in how to achieve the naked cake effect, you can head over to Erin’s blog where she is a master of the naked cake and is even leading a workshop in Australia on the subject. Eric also did a live broadcast of her icing a naked cake and it is mesmerising to say the least.

I would ideally have split the cake mixture into two cake pans but unfortunately I only had one 20cm cake pan at the time. This meant that I had to cut my layers. This is not something you should fear. You will be fine.
You can get wire cake cutters if you’re truly afraid but otherwise a bread knife will be fine. Just wrap your cake tightly in cling film and pop it in the fridge for 3 to 4 hours before cutting. This cuts down on the crumble of the cake and allows you to get cleaner layers. Never put your buttercream in the fridge as it will bread your cake and become unworkable. If you’re having trouble, stick your cake back into the fridge during icing to make it a little easier on yourself.