Name: Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Tiered Cake
Cook time: 80 min
Yield: 55
Ingredients: Top tier ingredients - 8 inch cake tin; For the cake; 225g margarine; 225g caster sugar; 4 medium eggs, lightly beaten; 100g sifted plain flour; 225g sifted self-raising flour; Zest and juice of 3 clementines; 2-3 tbsps milk; For the syrup; 20g caster sugar; Juice of 2 clementines; For the icing; 125g margarine; Zest 1 orange; 175g icing sugar; 50g best quality cocoa powder; 1-2 tbsps milk; To decorate:; 3-4 tbsps raspberry conserve; Apporximately 70-80 cigarellos (dark chocolate sticks); One punnet (approximately 150g) fresh raspberries; Bottom tier ingredients - 10 inch cake tin; For the cake; 350g margarine; 350g golden caster sugar; 6 medium eggs, lightly beaten; 175g sifted plain flour; 350g sifted self-raising flour; Zest and juice of 5 clementines

(Applicable for both tiers)

Preheat the oven to 170C/150Cfan/Gas Mark 3. Grease and line the cake tin with baking parchment.

Beat the margarine and sugar together until pale and fluffy, this will take 8-10minutes.

Add the eggs, a little at a time, whisking after each addition. Add a 1tbsp of the plain flour if the mixture begins to curdle.

Fold in the flours, zest and juice of the clementines. If the mixture does not fall off the spoon easily, add a little of the milk.

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the top with a spatula.

For the top 8 inch tier bake for 1 hr 10 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. For the bottom 10 inch tier bake for 1 hr 20minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If either cake is beginning to turn brown around the edges before the end of the baking time, cover over with foil.

For the syrup: Pop the syrup ingredients into a small pan and heat gently, stirring regularly before bringing to the boil. Simmer for a minute before removing from the heat. Using a skewer, prick the cake all over and gently pour the syrup over the cake. Allow the cake to cool in the tin.

For the icing: beat the margarine and zest together, adding the cocoa powder and icing sugar a little at a time until completely combined. Add the milk and beat all together.

Remove the completely cooled cake from the tin and slice in half horizontally. Using a palette knife, spread the raspberry conserve and a little of the chocolate icing on one half before sandwiching the two layers back together. Ice the sides and top of the cake with the rest of the icing.

If making both tiers, once both have been iced, stack the top tier on top of the bottom tier. Stick the cigarellos, which may need cutting to size with a sharp knife, to the icing around the edge of each tier. Decorate the top and around the edges of the cake with the raspberries

Recipe courtesy of Kate Harries, whatkatebaked