Queen Elizabeth’s Belgian Chocolate Cake
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Queen Elizabeth II, known for her love of chocolate, had a special Bohemian Chocolate Cake, a sumptuous chocolate sponge cake, made in her honor by her son, King Charles III. It’s a deliciously simple cake easy to make at home.
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In 2006 Prince Charles hosted a surprise celebration for his mother’s 80th birthday. Guests enjoyed a simple British menu followed by a sumptuous slice of chocolate sponge cake reputed to be one of her favorites.
The original recipe is from Chocolate Fit for a Queen in association with Historic Royal Palaces. For metric measurements and ingredients, visit The Telegraph.
I first published this recipe in my post, Remembering Queen Elizabeth: Her Life, Faith and the Food She Loved. Republishing it here makes it easier to find when searching the site for Queen’s Elizabeth’s chocolate cake.
Queen Elizabeth’s Favorite Foods
The Telegraph reports that twice a week, Queen Elizabeth would consult a red leather-bound book of menu suggestions from head chef, Mark Flanagan. She would check the ideas she liked and draw a line through those she didn’t. Typically, her likes tended to include chocolate or ingredients from her farms.
Flanagan notes she liked a Sunday roast after church, but she preferred the well-done ends, noting she didn’t like rare.
He also said she loved strawberries and white peaches, tuna salad triangle shaped finger sandwiches with thin slices of cucumbers, and Jam pennies – buttered bread with jam cut into circles the size of the old English penny.
Darren McGrady, personal chef to the Queen, says, ” Afternoon tea is a daily fixture, and often comes with chocolate perfection pie or chocolate biscuit cake, made with McVitie’s Rich Tea biscuits.“
Her love of shortbread is also well know. I’ve published her favorite Buckingham Palace Shortbread recipe here.
You May Also Enjoy Reading:
- Queen Elizabeth Afternoon Tea Recipes
- Queen Elizabeth’s Drop Scones: A Perfect Teatime Treat
- Easy Victoria Sponge Cake Recipe for Tea
- Taking Afternoon Tea Like the British
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Queen Elizabeth’s Favorite Belgian Chocolate Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 100 g Belgian milk chocolate
- unsalted butter to grease
- 1 3/4 cup self-raising flour *see notes
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup cooking oil
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
Filling and Decorations
- 150 g Belgian dark chocolate minimum 70 percent cocoa solids
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2-3 tablespoons raspberry jam
- 3/4 cup 150g mixed summer fruit (strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries)
Instructions
- Break the chocolate into pieces and melt slowly in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of just‑simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Once melted, set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and line two 8-inch round cake tins with parchment paper.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Stir the oil, 1/3 cup water, and sugar into the melted chocolate, then whisk in the eggs. Pour half the mixture into the well and fold in, then mix in the remaining chocolate mixture.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the cake pans and bake for 20‑25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the tins and cool on a wire rack.
- Make a chocolate ganache icing by melting the dark chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Stir in the milk then set aside to cool.
- Whip the cream in a separate bowl until thick. Use a large metal spoon to fold in one large spoonful of the cream to the chocolate mixture. Continue to gently fold in the remaining cream until smooth.
- Put one cake half on a cake stand and cover the top with jam. Place the other cake half on top. Spoon about half the ganache on top of the cake and slowly start to work it down the sides to cover the cake, adding spoonfuls of ganache to the sides until it is all covered. Put the remaining ganache on top and swirl into a pleasing pattern. Pile the fruit into the middle of the cake, slice and serve.
Notes
Substitute for Self-Rising Flour
If you don’t have self-rising flour on hand, for every 1 cup of self-rising flour, substitute 1 cup of all-purpose flour plus 1 tsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. baking soda.Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.