Skip to contentSkip to searchSkip to footerSkip to Recipe Assistant
HomepageHomepage
Go to checkout
Total number of items in your trolley: 0. Trolley amount: £0.00
Minimum: £40.00
Recipes
Offers
Coupons
Favourites
Shopping Lists
Regulars
Reserved Orders
Smart Pass
Brands We Love
Chocolate & cherry layered collar cake

Chocolate & cherry layered collar cake

By Food Thoughts
Published on 27 March 2023
A super chocolatey brownie style layer cake with hints of black cherry, laced with a black cherry and cream filling and decorated with fresh cherries which can be dipped in chocolate and / or sprayed with gold glitter to add a bit of drama.    Cherries can be replaced with figs, pears, plums or other fruits in season.   
Shop for ingredients

Time and servings

1 hr 20 minsTotal time
10Servings
50 minsPrep time
30 minsCooking time

Ingredients

  • 150 g of food thoughts organic cocoa powder, (for the cake & collar)
  • 300 g of food thoughts 70% cacao chocolate melts, (for the cake & collar)
  • 1 good handful of cherries, (for the filling/decoration)
  • 240 g of unsalted butter, (Room temperature, for the cake & collar)
  • 200 g of golden caster sugar, (For the cake & collar)
  • 4 large eggs, (For the cake & collar)
  • 2 tsp of vanilla essence
  • 240 g of pots of cherry yogurt, (made up to 700ml with full milk)
  • 580 ml of milk, (made up to 700ml with 240g yogurt)
  • 250 g of self-raising flour, (for the cake & collar)
  • 1.5 tsp of baking soda, (for the cake & collar)
  • 2 black cherry fruit filling, (we used Princes, for the filling/decoration))
  • 600 ml of double cream, (for the filling/decoration)
  • 2 tbsp of icing sugar, (for the filling/decoration)
  • 1 dusting of spray glitter, (optional)

Method

  • Step 1

    You will need 3-4 x 20cm round cake tins (fixed base), greaseproof paper, acetate or pliable plastic, 3 disposable icing bags, 3 wooden skewers

  • Step 2

    Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas 4. Grease and line your cake tins.

  • Step 3

    Put 24 Cacao Chocolate Melts (100g) aside for the chocolate collar. Place the remainder in a heatproof bowl (about 200g) and melt in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted.

  • Step 4

    Using a stand or hand mixer cream the butter and sugar together.

  • Step 5

    Gradually add in the eggs and vanilla essence until thoroughly blended. Add the melted cacao chocolate (it should be cooled but still runny).

  • Step 6

    Put the yogurt in a measuring jug and then make up to 700ml with buttermilk or full fat milk.

  • Step 7

    Sieve the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda and fold into the wet ingredients. The finished mixture will be the consistency of a light chocolate mousse.

  • Step 8

    Evenly distribute the mixture across 3 cake tins (or 4 if you want thinner layers of cake). Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Note: They will not rise much as they need to be a certain texture to retain their shape once cream and cherry mixture is added in the layers. Leave to completely cool.

  • Step 9

    FOR THE FILLING, SIDES & TOP Whip the cream with sieved icing sugar until it is quite firm and holds its shape.

  • Step 10

    Spread the cherry filling on top of the first cake then add a layer of cream (repeat twice more). Put on the top cake layer.

  • Step 11

    Using a palette knife or straight edged icing tool cover the outsides of the cake with cream so that it is semi-naked but has sufficient cover for the chocolate collar to stick to.

  • Step 12

    Cover the top with the remaining cream or pipe in swirls. Put three skewers through the cake layers to hold them in place. Put the cake in the fridge.

  • Step 13

    MAKING THE COLLAR The collar is made in two halves. Measure the height of your cake and add 3-4cm to calculate the finished height of the collar. Cut two rectangles of acetate or pliable plastic (we used an office filing sleeve with 2 open ends) each 32cm wide by the height of your finished collar. Lay each one on a larger piece of greaseproof paper.

  • Step 14

    Fill a heatproof jug until it is half full of water. Put 12 Cacao Chocolate Melts in a disposable icing bag and submerge the end with melts into the water. Heat in 30 second increments until the chocolate has fully melted. Cut a small hole off the bag end. Pipe your pattern (you don’t need a nozzle) on one of the acetate rectangles. Slide the greaseproof / acetate onto a baking tray and place in fridge to cool (5-10 mins) until it holds it shape but is still pliable. You don’t want it to be too cold otherwise it will crack. With acetate still attached, mould the collar onto the side of your cake making sure it sticks to the cream. Place cake back into the fridge (acetate still attached).

  • Step 15

    Repeat above step for the second collar and, once both halves have fully hardened, peel off the acetates and remove the skewers.

  • Step 16

    DECORATION Place fresh cherries on top in the ‘bowl’ created by the collar. We coated some in melted Cacao Chocolate. You can also spray these with edible glitter to give your cake a celebratory look.

  • Step 17

    If cherries are not in season then you could replace them with another fruit such as slices of figs, pears, plums slices.