Turning a quarter of a century hasn’t been as daunting as one might think. My birthday celebrations have been spread out over a week while I have caught up with family and friends and everyone in between. As always, the centre-piece of the celebrations has been my 25th birthday cake!

I started planning my cake two weeks prior to the big day with a birthday cake Pinterest board. After various ideas coming to mind, a few sketches and a trip to Søstrene Grene for decorations, I settled on my cake type and design. A chocolate biscuit cake with a buttercream coating, a white chocolate drip and a sprinkle base. As you can see from the photos, this is not what the result was but I was more than delighted with where the decorating process took me.

I’ve been asked alot where did I get my cake tin. The shape is somewhat unique. The beauty of a chocolate biscuit cake is that you don’t need to use a cake tin because your cake isn’t getting baked. Hence, I used a 1L round Tubberware piece.

This recipe serves 20-30 people. I suggest using it as a guide and experimenting with different types of biscuits, chocolates and extra bits. For this cake, I used Twix and Mars for this cake but Maltesers and Crunchies are lovely additions too. This cake can be make a few days in advance once covered and stored in the fridge.

Hope you enjoy!

Amy x

Ingredients
For the cake
450g milk chocolate
397g tin of condensed milk
3/4 pack Digestives
3/4 pack Rich Tea
1/2 pack Ginger Nuts
A handful of mini marshmallows (or large ones chopped)
3 Mars bars chopped
6 Twix fingers chopped

For the icing
500g icing sugar
250g margarine, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence
Splash of milk

Method
Grease and line your cake tin/vessel with greaseproof paper.

Melt the chocolate in a large mixing bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water.

When the chocolate has melted, mix in the condensed milk – the mixture will start to resemble soft fudge.

Stir in the biscuits, ensuring they’re all coated in chocolate and remove from the heat.

Mix in the marshmallows and chocolate bars and transfer to the prepared tin/vessel. Level off the top and allow to set in the fridge overnight. To remove the cake from the vessel, dip into hot water to loosen the edges.

To make the buttercream, beat the icing sugar and margarine until pale and smooth. Add the vanilla essence and a splash of milk to reach a spreadable consistency.

Apply a crumb coat of buttercream to the cake and allow to chill for at least 20 minutes. You may want to fill in any gaps with buttercream to help achieve a smooth finish.

Apply the second layer of buttercream in upwards strokes from the bottom of the cake, finishing with a smooth layer on the top.

Wearing latex gloves, press handfuls of sprinkles on the the cake. Stick in any cake toppers and allow to chill. Remove from the fridge about an hour or so before cutting.