Josh's Chocolate Honeycomb Digger Cake

So it's that time of year again - my godson Josh's Birthday! He's 3 this year and he insisted that I make him a "digger" cake to go with his "Bob the Builder" themed party. At first I panicked and wondered how on earth I was going to do something like that. I thought that I'd definitely have to resort to fondant icing which I HATE using. But, luckily I had a plan...

I went for a three layer chocolate sponge completely covered in chocolate buttercream. I decided to put more chocolate buttercream and crushed honeycomb between each layer and also to make mounds of rock and muck out of broken pieces of the honeycomb and Cadbury's Crunchie bar for the top. I positioned two toy diggers beside the mounds and sprinkled some cocoa powder nearby as dust. I had to be brave when it came to the text as it was my first EVER time trying to write on a cake with chocolate !!! Luckily it went pretty well but I think I might need a little more practice ! 

The Chocolate Sponge Recipe

Makes a 6" Round

YOU WILL NEED...

225g Butter

225g Caster Sugar

225g Self Raising Flour (sieved)

4 Eggs

2 tbsp Cocoa Powder

50g Chocolate (broken into tiny pieces)

METHOD

1) Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F/ Gas Mark 4, grease your tin with sunflower oil and line it with greaseproof paper.

2) Cream your butter and sugar to ther in a mixing bowl until really light and fluffy.

3) Add in the eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat. 

4) In a separate bowl combine the sieved flour, the cocoa and the chopped chocolate.

5) Then begin to add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl, one spoon at a time.

6) When fully mixed, pour into your lined baking tin and bake for approx. 40 mins until the sponge in springy to touch.

7) Leave the sponge to cool on a wire tray while you prepare your buttercream. 

To Make the Chocolate Buttercream... 

YOU WILL NEED

500g Icing Sugar

250g Butter (softened) 

2 tbsp Boiling Water 

METHOD

1) Beat the sugar and butter together in the mixing bowl until light and fluffy. 

2) Turn up the beater and add in the boiling water.

3) Keep beating until the cream in almost mousse like in texture, then set it to one side while you wait for your cake to be fully cool. 

4) Split the cake in 2/3 with a sharp bread knife and fill each layer with buttercream and honeycomb.

5) Spread the remaining buttercream over the entire cake using a pallet knife and decorate however you wish.