Rudolph Chocolate Bundt Cake

I love the novelty of this cake, and so did my son. We first saw it at my friend, Sandrine's house, where she had made a fab version, piping on buttercream to create a fur - like look. I decided to go for a chocolate bundt base, as we like this recipe a LOT, with a coconut milk and dark choc ganache as it's not as sweet, and a lot less time consuming. (I like shortcuts!!)

Anyway it went down well with my family...and I may have just had a second slice while I type this...

It's worth noting, this is not a sickly sweet cake. That's one of the appeals of this recipe and why we make it so often.

Oh and did you notice my red and white plate? I made it using American Starlight peppermint sweets. They are placed on a non stick silicon mat and placed into a moderate oven (approx 170 deg C) for 7-8 mins, or until softened and spread slightly. Cool on the mat until hard.

It can be crushed afterwards and used instead of candy canes on biscuits, or just crack pieces off to enjoy - they are sooo yummy!

You can find the cake recipe here and see below for the ganache recipe.

Coconut Milk Ganache

(Dairy free, but without a strong coconut flavour)

200g dark chocolate

1/3 c coconut milk - mainly solid, and a touch of the liquid.

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in an heatproof bowl. Gently heat the milk until it is hot but not quite boiling and pour over the chocolate. Mix and then leave until the chocolate has melted.

Mix until it is smooth and silky. Cool and pour onto the cake and use a offset spatula to spread and drip off the edges of the cake.

Any left over ganache is DELICIOUS on top of vanilla icecream.

To make the antlers, I drew an outline on parchment paper, folded it over and the drew it again in symmetry. I then melted 100g chocolate (or candy melts) and using a piping bag, I piped an outline around each antler, filled it in and left it to set - putting it in the fridge helps. Once set, place a skewer or cake pop stick on each antler and cover it with another layer of chocolate. Chill in the fridge to set.

The eyes and nose were made with pre-coloured fondant icing - chocolate chips for the pupils. I anchored them into the cake using skewers.