From  #20 Food News

For a large, deep 25cm cake tin:

375g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
600g caster sugar
115g cocoa powder mixed with 150ml boiling water, cooled slightly
6 medium eggs
450g self raising flour plus 1tsp baking powder (or if in Italy 450g Farina di dolce and 16g sachet Paneangeli Lievito Pane Degli Angeli)
1tsp vanilla extract (optional)
75g light olive oil

To decorate

350g butter, softened
350g icing sugar
2 x 500g packs pink sugar paste
1 x 500g pack yellow sugar paste
12 red Haribo raspberries
7-8 Kinder bueno mini (See Britailian Tip)

You will also need

Approx 20 mini muffin cases
Piping bag fitted with a star nozzle

1 Preheat the oven to 180’C, fan 160’C, gas 4. Grease and line a deep 25cm cake tin. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand whisk to cream together the butter and sugar. Add the remaining cake ingredients and whisk to mix.

2 Three-quarter fill 12 of the mini muffin cases with the cake mixture, set aside. Pour the remaining mixture into the prepared tin and bake the large cake in the preheated oven for 1 hour 20 mins.

3 After the large cake has had 1 hour, add the mini muffins to the oven and allow to cook for the final 20 mins. Allow both to cool.

4 To decorate, beat the butter until softened and gradually add the icing sugar until you have a smooth buttercream. Fill a piping bag with some of the buttercream and pipe onto the top of the mini muffins, top each with a Haribo raspberry. Fill the remaining cases with the bueno mini. Set aside.

5 Spread the remaining buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. Roll out a long thin rectangle of pink sugar paste approx 3mm thick, trim to a long strip approx 1.5cm wide, long enough to run all the way around the cake. Press all around the top as close to the edge as you can get it. Roll out the remaining pink icing and use to cover the cake. Run a finger along the edge to excentuate the ridge that the extra piece of icing creates.

6 Roll out the yellow icing and cut into strips of varying widths (use a pasta cutter on a few if you want some with a wiggly effect!). Brush each strip with water and stick to the side of the cake. Trim with a sharp knife. Top the cake with the small cakes and chocolates and serve.

Britalian tip

I’ve only seen Bueno ‘mini’ in Italy or available to bulk-buy on Amazon (my work colleagues were meant to get a taste this year but I used them on the cake!).  If you prefer to save a few air miles, cut a few bars of regular Bueno into individual pieces or simply decorate using your fave chocolates or truffles.