Chef Donolon’s Jubilee Cake (ESO Anniversary)

Chef Donolon’s Jubilee Cake (ESO anniversary)

Guess what, it’s my birthday, so I’m gifting you all with a special recipe today (how perfect is it that this year my birthday is on a Friday)! Naturally I’ve got to do what I do every year, and bake myself a cake! Well now, it’s not often you see a fancy cake of such proportions anywhere in Tamriel, but when it’s time to pull out all the stops you can guarantee that Chef Donolon’s recipes have you covered! And of course to mark my reaching a quarter of a century old, nothing less than the classic Jubilee Cake will do. Best of all? It’s gluten free for my coeliac friends!

I gained much inspiration in pastry making from the famous book, Donolon Bakes, and this Jubilee Cake is always a guaranteed hit with all folks old and young. Of course, the secret recipe for this lies with the Chef’s Charmed Mixing Bowl, which I don’t have (and neither do you, most likely), so after lots of experimenting I finally came up with what I hope is a passable replica of the real deal! Celebrate my birthday with me and share a slice!

You will need: Cake 100g plain unsweetened cocoa powder 250g fine ground almond meal 300 ml olive oil 250ml hot water 6 eggs 4 tsp vanilla extract 200g caster sugar 1 tsp baking soda Pinch of salt

Frosting 3 cups heavy cream 1 ½ packets (375g) cream cheese, softened 1 cup caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla essence 1 tsp almond essence Sliced almonds Handful of strawberries, halved Handful of blueberries

Method: Preheat your oven to 170C/325F. Grease two medium springform baking tins well with oil.

In a bowl, sift the cocoa powder and add the hot water, until it is a runny liquid. Add the vanilla essence and stir through.

Whisk the eggs, olive oil, and sugar together until the mixture is fluffy, then add the cocoa mixture. Whisk again until throughly blended.

Add the almond meal, salt, and baking soda, and beat it all together until a smooth even batter has formed. Pour the batter half and half into the two tins, and bake for 45 minutes. Leave for 15 minutes and run a knife around the edges of the tin before releasing the cakes. Leave them to cool on a wire rack.

For the icing, use an electric whisk to beat the cream and cream cheese and until mixed through and stiff peaks have formed. Add the sugar, vanilla and almond essences, and whisk until all the ingredients are well combined.

Spread half the frosting on the surface of the first cake, then stack the next cake on top. Cover with the remaining frosting, then decorate generously with almond slices and berries.