Chocolate Explosion birthday cake

Some time ago, I saw an image of a birthday cake (I can't remember where now sadly) and I have been longing for an excuse to re-create it in my own style. The cake basically was decorated with chocolate bars, but in a way that it looked like they were exploding from the cake.

A friend of mine was attending a dinner party I was going to and as it was also her birthday, I brought along this cake as a surprise!

It was a rich chocolate Victoria sponge in three layers, sandwiched and topped with buttercream. Then, surrounded with Matchmakers ( but you could use chocolate scrolls or cigarellos for this), surrounded by a ring of Maltesers, and topped with an explosion of chocolate bars.



Ingredients:

Cake

• 340g plain flour
• 30g cocoa powder
• 340g caster sugar
• 340g butter
• 6 free-range eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• a dash of milk
• 2 boxes of Nestle's Matchmakers (I used orange flavoured) or chocolate cigarellos
• 1 large packet of Maltesers
• A selection of chocolate bars including a Curly Wurly, Twix, Flake, Milky Way and a handful of Thornton's Continental.

Buttercream

• 200g butter
• 400g icing sugar
• 30g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• dash of milk

Method: 

• Pre-heat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/176°C
• Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy
• Beat the eggs with the vanilla extract and add to the butter/sugar a little at a time, ensuring it is fully incorporated between each addition.
• Sift the cocoa powder with the flour then carefully fold in
• If the mixture seems a little stiff, add a dash of milk.
• Distribute the mixture between 3 7" cake tins that have been greased and lined.
• Bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean
• Allow to cool fully before attempting to decorate.
• As your cakes cool, make the butter-cream by mixing the butter with the icing sugar
• Add a dash of milk until the required consistency is achieved.
• Sandwich the cakes with a thin layer of the vanilla buttercream.
• Add the cocoa powder to the remaining buttercream.  Put a quarter of the remaining mixture in a piping bag, or bottle.
• Cover the top and sides of the cake in chocolate buttercream.
• The stick Matchmakers, or cigarellos all around the outside of the cake.
• Using the reserved buttercream, pipe little stars around the bottom and press in a ring of Maltesers.
• Do the same around the inside of the Matchmakers on top of the cake.
• Starting with the longest chocolate bar, the Curly Wurly, place this into the centre of the cake.
• Working with progressively shorter bars, work your way to the outside, then finally scatter with Thorntons continental
• Crumble a Flake into the gaps
• Finally, tie a ribbon around the centre to prevent any of your Matchmakers from falling off.

Present your cake with some indoor sparklers or candles

Servings	16
Calories per serving	840