Last week was a total mess, quite literally. I spent a large percentage of my time cleaning up the aftermath of things I’d accidentally smashed, with my reign of terror ending in the lift going up to our flat.
The Chocolate Fudge & Pistachio Cakelette you see in this post isn’t the original birthday cake that I baked this year for my boyfriend. That one was taken to a small gathering of friends to celebrate his 38th, and it wasn’t so much a cakelette as it was a 3-tiered cake. The reason why I ended up baking a smaller version of it will be revealed shortly.
It all started on Sunday night while I was unpacking the dishwasher and carefully (or so I thought) stacking crockery back where it belongs in the cupboard. As I held a stack of bowls my hand slipped and one of the bowls managed to crash into another and smash into pieces. Strike 1.
On Tuesday night, I washed up after baking and decorating the original birthday cake and made the foolish mistake of not clearing space in the drying rack before adding more to it. I was tired and frustrated, and our square glass Pyrex baking dish bore the brunt of this all as it slipped off the top of my dish tower and smashed spectacularly on to the kitchen floor. When I say there was glass everywhere, I am by no means over exaggerating. Strike 2.
The next day I was clearing a few things out of the server in our dining room and managed to bump a wine glass with my elbow, which then fell on to the floor and broke. Strike 3.
I’m a firm believer in things happening in 3’s, so that was me for the week. Or was it?
My boyfriend takes his cake pretty seriously, so when he wasn’t allowed to have any of it the morning of his birthday, he was quite disappointed. After denying him his birthday cake the entire day, we took it to his drinks party where he blew out candles while we sang to him, and then we sliced and shared it with everyone.
He wanted a smaller than usual slice but his reasoning behind this was so that he could have the leftovers the next morning with his coffee. And then as we were taking the lift up to our flat later that evening, I managed to lose grip of the container his precious cake leftovers were in and drop it, ganache face-down, on the floor of the lift. Strike 4.
To make up for the lack of birthday cake I baked a smaller version by halving the recipe and making two cakelettes. One went to my mom for Mother’s Day, and the other went to the person who lost his cake in the lift.
Chocolate Fudge & Pistachio Cakelette
The recipe for this cakelette, along with the dark chocolate and white chocolate pistachio ganache are recipes I adapted from the Cookidoo® library of recipes you can make using your Thermomix. If you don’t have a Thermomix then you can use another chocolate fudge cake and chocolate ganache recipes of your choosing.
This Chocolate Fudge & Pistachio Cakelette is a dense cake, made with both melted chocolate and cocoa for a fudge-like finish you’ll love.
I halved the ingredients for the cake to make enough for 4 cakelette layers, resulting in two cakelettes. If you want to make one larger cake then stick with the ratios as listed in the original recipe.
Thermomix Chocolate Fudge Cake (halve the ingredients to make enough for 4 x 10cm cakelettes)
Toasted Pistachios, chopped
White Chocolate & Pistachio Ganache
White Chocolate & Pistachio Ganache
- 100g white chocolate
- 80g cream
- 3 tbsp Pistachio Butter
- Place white chocolate in mixing bowl and grate 10 sec/speed 8. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl with a spatula.
- Add cream and melt 2 min/50°C/speed 3.
- Add the pistachio butter and mix for 1 min/speed 3.
- Allow to cool slightly and thicken.
To Assemble The Cakelette
- Make sure the cake layers are completely cool before assembling, otherwise the ganache will melt straight off and out of the cakelette.
- Place the first layer on a cool rack placed on top of a bowl, then add a few tablespoons of the White Chocolate & Pistachio Ganache on the top and spread to cover evenly.
- Place the second layer on top of that and then begin pouring the dark chocolate ganache over the cakelette.
- You will likely need to do this a few times, smoothing the sides and the top of the cakelette to evenly coat (which is why you need to collect any run-off in the bowl beneath the cooling rack. As the ganache sets it will become thicker, so work quickly.
- Sprinkle the top with the chopped toasted pistachios and leave to set completely before transferring to a cake stand or serving plate.
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