1 box of Betty Crocker's red velvet cake mix (plus 3 eggs, vegetable oil and water as per the instructions on the box)
*For the chocolate sponges*
400g butter
400g sugar
350g flour
50g cocoa powder
8 eggs
*For the chocolate frosting*
250g unsalted butter
400g icing sugar
50g cocoa powder
a little cold milk
*For the chocolate decorations*
- the antlers & ears requires 250g dark chocolate
- the eyes require 50g white chocolate plus 2 large chocolate buttons
- the red foil nose is a chocolate teacake (bought as part of a multi pack )
Plus edible gold glitter for some festive sparkle
Instructions
Pre heat the oven to 180oC / 160oC (fan)
Make the red velvet cake batter as per the instructions on the box
Lightly grease a cake pop baking tin, place a generous tsp of mixture into the cake pop tin holes and bake in the oven for approx 12-15minutes. (You need to make 20 of these, and my cake pop tin makes 12 at a time so I needed to repeat this once my first batch were cooked and remove from the tin.)
Next:
Grease and line 4 x 8cm cake tins (or if like me you only have 2 cake tins this size, you will need to bake in 2 batches)
Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl to cream together.I used my Kenwood Chef Elite for this as it is perfect for mixing cake batter. Beat well for about 5 minutes until pale and soft
Add the eggs and a spoonful of the flour and beat for a few more minutes
Fold in the remaining flour and the cocoa powder
Divide the batter between the tins
In 2 of the tins only, add 10 of the red nose cake pops in to each one and press down
Bake in the cook in the oven for 22-25 minutes approx
And then leave the cakes to cool
While they are cooling, you can make your chocolate decorations:
**Antlers and Ears:
Melt the dark chocolate and on a sheet of grease proof paper, draw two antlers and two ear shapes. Pour the melted chocolate into a piping bag, and carefully pipe your chocolate on to your drawings. Use a knife and smooth over
Leave to set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes
For the **eyes,
melt the white chocolate and spoon out two rounds onto some grease proof paper then place a large chocolate buttons into the middle and leave to set in the fridge
Now make your chocolate frosting:
Place the buttercream and icing sugar into your mixer bowl, and beat together (slowly to start with else you will get icing sugar everywhere!) until soft and creamy
Add the cocoa powder and a splash or two of milk to make the frosting more creamy, and beat together again
Now to assemble your cake :
Sandwich the cake using the buttercream.You want to layer it with the two sponges that contain the red noses in the middle.
Once the sponges are sandwiched together, cover the cake around the sides and on the top with more of the frosting.
Now there should be a little of the melted white chocolate left, use this as glue to stick your eyes and nose on to the cake
The antlers and ears should slot into the top of the cake
Finally, using the edible gold glitter (this is optional) spray the cake for some added festiveness :)
Recipe by Mummy Mishaps at http://www.mummymishaps.co.uk/2017/12/rudolphs-red-nose-chocolate-cake.html