True Love Feature May 2013
I love photo shoots…which girl doesn’t? So my True Love troubles began as this shoot was scheduled for the day after the Hobby X expo! I had just done two expos back to back and was feeling completely knackered. The panic began to set in. It was not my finest moment when I realised that I was not paying attention to the 400 grams of Lindt chocolate being melted. What was supposed to be a glorious, silky chocolate topping turned to an unsightly volcanic lava mess as the Lindt overheated and split. My heart broke and I was too tired to even cry!
Rocky Road Cake aka ‘The Messy Chocolate Cake
I decided to call in the armed forces….my neighbour and really good friend, Mechelle Theodosiou! She has a home that is like a treasure trove….she arrived with armfuls of goodies to set the table with! What a trooper! My mom was like the foodie fairy godmother – she was my kitchen co-pilot as we worked our way through the list of dishes that we needed to prepare.
Behind the scenes with True Love – Table setting by Mechelle Theodosiou
My mind was buzzing and I warned Alexa Wilson that I was in need of some serious ‘cosmetic panel beating’. Alexa and I started working together on the set of ‘Sugar ‘n Spice’. Much to my delight, she arrived with a few large cases of ‘equipment’ – 90% of it to camouflage the bags under my eyes. She did a fantastic job and had me looking like a star in a flash.
The Star of the Show – The Mothers Day Cake
The menu included my Home Style Lamb Curry with Velvety Potatoes, Crab in a Spicy Sauce and a selection of cakes that left the team breathless! Red Velvet, Rocky Road aka the Messy Chocolate Cake and the star of the …’The Mother’s Day Cake’. It’s a five layer cake dressed in lashings of the most decadent chocolate cream cheese frosting.
Mokgadi Itsweng – True Love’s Food Editor
…’The Mother’s Day Cake’. It’s a five layer cake dressed in lashings of the most decadent chocolate cream cheese frosting.
Just a few tips about this cake…I use the Spar branded Cream Cheese for this recipe. This blog is not sponsored by Spar but after a few run ins with dodgy cream cheese which covered split to watery frosting, I can’t help but recommend the Spar Cream Cheese for the job! The measurements are in grams – I recommend an electronic scale for baking as every gram counts to achieve perfection!
Here is the recipe:
Mother’s Day Cake
Ingredients for three layers:
360g cake flour
360g sugar
22,5ml baking powder
1ml salt
125g butter, room temperature
375ml full cream milk
3 eggs
10ml vanilla essence
Few drops of pink food colouring
Here’s how:
Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees celsius.
Grease and line 3 x 20cm cake tins.
Place the cake flour, baking powder and sugar into a mixing bowl.
Add the butter and beat until the ingredients are combined – the mixture should look quite gritty.
Gradually add the milk and vanilla essence while beating continuously.
Add the lightly beaten eggs and beat again until the batter is smooth.
Divide the mixture into three bowls and tint two batches with a few drops of pink food colouring.
Spoon the mixture into cake tins and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.
Remove the cakes from the tin and then leave on a wire rack to cook completely.
Ingredients for the chocolate layers:
200g cake flour
15ml baking powder
45g cocoa powder
225g sugar
85g butter, room temperature!
240ml full cream milk
2 eggs
5ml vanilla essence
Here’s how:
Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees celsius.
Place the cake flour, baking powder, cocoa and sugar into a mixing bowl.
Add the butter and beat until the ingredients are combined – the mixture should look quite gritty.
Gradually add the milk and vanilla essence while beating continuously.
Add the lightly beaten eggs and beat again until the batter is smooth.
Spoon the mixture into 2 x 20cm cake tins and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.
Remove the cakes from the tin and then leave on a wire rack to cook completely.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
200g butter
400g sifted icing sugar
90g cocoa powder
2 x 230g tubs Spar cream cheese
60ml fresh cream
Cream the butter until light in colour and gradually add the icing sugar.
Sift the cocoa into the creamed butter and continue beating.
Add the cream cheese and cream the mixture until the ingredients are combined.
Pour the fresh cream into the frosting and beat for a few seconds until light and fluffy.
To assemble the cake:
Sandwich the cakes with the chocolate cream cheese frosting starting with a chocolate layer, then pink layer which will leave the vanilla sponge in the centre.
Then place a pink layer over the vanilla cake and sandwich with a chocolate layer.
Frost the top and sides of the cake and garnish with maraschino cherries.
*Special thanks to: Alex Wilson and Mechelle Theodosiou
yudhikayumyum 
I would love to get some reciepies pls on my e mail addres what should I do to get more of them? Plz help I love baking
Hi there,
You can look through the archives on my blog or take a look on this link: https://yudhikayumyum.com/sugar-n-spice-on-saffron-tv/
Please may I get the recipe for your rocky road cake
Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom – let your email find you!
Hi there –
Here is the link for the Rocky Road Messy Chocolate Cake