If you want something more luscious than the usual white wedding cake, this is the recipe for you – rich, dark and oozing with chocolate.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 85 g/3 oz dark chocolate
• 170 g/6 oz butter, at room temperature
• 50 g/2 oz light brown sugar
• 100 g/3 oz caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 140 g/5 oz self-raising flour
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

To decorate:

• 4 tablespoons raspberry jam
• 170 g/6 oz dark chocolate
• 200 ml/7 fl oz double cream
• Dark chocolate curls, to decorate (see below)
• Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting (optional)

Method:

To make a tiered wedding cake, make the small and large wedding cakes (see below) as well, then use cake pillars to stack them together. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4. Grease a 20-cm/8-inch springform cake tin and line the bottom with greaseproof paper.

Break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water and warm until melted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Beat the butter and sugars until pale and creamy, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Sift flour, cocoa and cinnamon over the top, then fold in, followed by the melted chocolate. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for about 50 minutes until risen and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To decorate, slice the cake in half horizontally and spread with the jam. Place the second cake on top to create a perfect fit with straight sides. Put the chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water and warm, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate has melted. Leave to cool and thicken slightly, then pour over the cake to cover the top and sides completely. Decorate the top of the cake with chocolate curls and dust with cocoa.

Small chocolate wedding cake:

Prepare the basic recipe above, using a 13-cm/5-inch springform cake tin. Fill the tin to about 2.5 cm/1 inch deep with cake batter and discard the rest. Bake for about 35 minutes until firm.

Large chocolate wedding cake:

Prepare the basic recipe above, using a 28-cm/11-inch round cake tin and a double quantity of cake batter and icing. Fill the tin to about 2.5 cm/1 inch deep with cake batter and discard the rest. Bake until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Making chocolate curls:

These elegant curls are wonderful for decorating chocolate cakes, cheesecakes, dessert cakes and gateaux. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Pour the chocolate onto a marble slab or clean work surface and spread out in a thin layer, then leave to set. Using a sharp, flat-ended blade, such as a pastry scraper held at about 45 degrees, peel up layers of chocolate. As you scrape, the chocolate will curl into ruffled tubes.