The. Best. Cake. Ever. White chocolate and maple syrup cake

So I finally give to you the best recipe for cake I have ever tried after ranting about it since my birthday post in May!! I also had a guest post on Mess Makes food here for grapefruit meringue pies which were so much fun to photograph because of their bright pink colour and they tasted beautiful (almost as good as this cake!).

meringue pie sampler from 'Mess makes food'

 Soooooo..... back to this beautiful cake! ..........

I honestly don't know where the recipe for this cake came from, it's been printed on a sheet of paper and in the family cooking file for I don't know how long. It is one of the rare recipes though which is made for an aga! 

But that doesn't mean that it can only be made in an aga! An aga is just a huge piece of piece of cast iron and is just a big oven which is on constantly, it's great for cooking stuff for a long time (like pulled pork!) and keeping the house warm in winter.

This cake just combines two magical things, the white chocolate in the cake makes it really creamy and just makes it taste so good, combined with the maple syrup which adds some sweetness but also it's classic taste. It's finished off with a maple syrup and mascarpone frosting which is the best frosting I've ever come across, so good I even used it in my spiced parsnip and hazelnut cake.

I will take this moment to thank Lucy Young for creating this beautiful recipe

So many strawberries! If you don't have strawberries don't worry, they're not part of the original recipe but they do go so well with the creamy flavour of the white chocolate.

I have one final question, is maple syrup ridiculously expensive in other places or is my family being ripped off!? This maple syrup (although it is delicious with a lovely bottle and label) was over £6! That seems a little bit too expensive for me, though this cake is a treat!

White Chocolate and Maple Syrup Cake (aka the best cake ever)

from Lucy Young

Cake

• 100 g quality white chocolate
• 175 g butter, softened
• 100 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 300 g  self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 175 g maple syrup
• 150 ml milk

Frosting

• 250 g of mascarpone 
• 3 tbsp of maple syrup
• 1 tbsp of icing sugar
• deco, strawberries (optional)

1. preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and grease and line a 20cm cake tin
2. break the chocolate into a heat proof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water until melted, DON'T boil the water as white chocolate has a lower melting point than other chocolate so seizes very easily, it's better to do it very slowly
3. beat the butter and sugar in a separate bowl till pale and fluffy, beat in the eggs one at a time
4. beat in the flour, baking powder and syrup until combined before finally gradually adding the milk and stiring until combined
5. pour into the tin and bake for 30-35 mins until golden and a knife comes out clean
6. while cooling put all the frosting ingredients into a bowl and beat until combined, frost the cake once cooled and decorate with strawberries (optional)
7. feast!