Iced Berry Cake

By stancec44

As author Bill Collison explains, “This is an all-singing, whooped-up, somewhat-over-the-top, photo-opportunity cake that requires no cooking at all and can be assembled–because it is essentially an assembly job–by a five-year-old. Which is, after all, the point: that it has been, at least in some small way, prepared by the children.” If you have the time and patience (and, if you’re under the age of 10, the adult supervision), we strongly encourage you to indulge in a made-from-scratch cake of any sort for this messy mom’s day surprise. But there’s no shame in relying on a store-bought cake. But why stop with cake? Even a brownie could be a lovely base for this lovely gift. And if you don’t mind even more of a mess than what’s already in store for you, consider swapping softened ice cream for whipped cream.

Ingredients

• About 20 ounces berries, fresh or frozen, a mixture of varieties is fine
• A generous 1/2 to 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 3 1/2 ounces really good-quality chocolate, preferably milk chocolate or white confection, melted
• 1 cake, single layer or double layer, store-bought or made from scratch
• A selection of interesting edibles for decorating (go wild!)

Details

Servings 8
Cooking time 30mins
Adapted from leitesculinaria.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. If using frozen berries, remove them from the freezer. (By the time you serve the cake, the chocolate will hopefully be melting the berries so they are still cold but not frozen.)

2. Whip the cream until it is thick and softly peaked.

3. Plop the cake on a plate. Slather the whipped cream across the top of the cake and layer on the berries. If using a layer cake, slip some berries between the layers and lavish some of the cream and berries on the top layer, too. Drizzle the warm melted chocolate across the top of the cake and pile on the decorations.

4. Everything may be on the slide, but that’s still perfect. Present it with pride.