Ruby Bhogal

Why it earned the handshake

Ruby’s cake had the exact kind of confidence a Showstopper asks for: three orange-scented layers, chocolate-hazelnut cream, orange cream, a graphic white-and-gray chocolate collar, and brittle shards that make the whole thing look taller and wilder than it is. The decoration is painterly, but the architecture is disciplined. There is nowhere for a collapsed layer or a loose crumb to hide.

The real moment was as much about the cut as the collar. Contemporary reporting records Prue calling the cake “very intelligent and very classy,” while Paul noted that the sponge was beautifully cooked as he cut into it and then gave Ruby the handshake, saying, “This is a fine cake.” Ruby was delighted by Paul’s approval but said she had particularly wanted to impress Prue—a lovely reminder that a handshake can be one baker’s headline and not the only judgment that matters.

Ingredients

Sponge

• 300g cake margarine, at room temperature
• 300g golden superfine/caster sugar
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 12.5ml vanilla bean paste
• 15ml Valencian orange extract
• Finely grated zest of 2 large unwaxed oranges
• 45ml Cointreau
• 315g sifted self-rising flour

Cointreau syrup

• 50g superfine/caster sugar
• 50ml Cointreau
• 50ml water

Chocolate-hazelnut cream

• 75g blanched whole hazelnuts
• 65g good-quality milk chocolate
• 35g superfine/caster sugar
• 15g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 15ml coconut oil
• 2.5ml vanilla bean paste
• Pinch of salt
• 200ml heavy/double cream
• 100g mascarpone

Orange cream

• 300ml heavy/double cream
• 150g mascarpone
• 50g superfine/caster sugar
• 15ml vanilla bean paste
• 7.5ml Valencian orange extract
• Finely grated zest of 1 large unwaxed orange

Collar and brittle

• 300g white chocolate, plus 25g for drizzling
• Black food-coloring gel
• 50g blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 150g superfine/caster sugar

You will also need three round cake pans, two strips of food-safe acetate long enough to wrap the cake, a food processor, a cake board, and a lined small baking sheet.

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan. Grease and line three round cake pans. Beat the margarine and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the beaten eggs gradually, adding a little flour if the mixture begins to curdle. Beat in the vanilla, orange extract, orange zest, and Cointreau; fold in the remaining flour.
2. Divide the batter among the pans and bake for 25 minutes, until golden and just firm. Turn out onto a rack to cool.
3. Make the syrup while the cakes bake. Boil the water, sugar, and Cointreau, then simmer for 3–4 minutes until slightly syrupy. Cool, then brush over the sponges.
4. For the chocolate-hazelnut mixture, roast the hazelnuts for 5 minutes, until pale golden. Process them until they become a nut butter. Melt the milk chocolate and add it to the processor with the sugar, cocoa, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt. Blend until smooth.
5. Whip 200ml cream with 100g mascarpone until firm. Beat in about 30ml of the chocolate-hazelnut mixture, adding more to taste. Transfer to a piping bag with a roughly 1cm opening; reserve the remaining chocolate-hazelnut mixture.
6. Whip all the orange-cream ingredients until firm. Put half into a second piping bag with a 1cm opening and reserve the rest.
7. Anchor one sponge to a cake board with a little orange cream. Spread it with about 15ml of the reserved chocolate-hazelnut mixture. Pipe chocolate cream in a spiral, stopping about 1cm from the edge, then pipe a ring of orange cream around the perimeter. Add the second sponge and repeat with the remaining piped creams. Top with the third sponge, spread it thinly with the remaining chocolate-hazelnut mixture, and cover the top and sides with the reserved orange cream. Chill.
8. For the collar, melt the white chocolate gently and split it between two bowls. Tint one gray with black gel. Lay the acetate strips flat and splatter them thickly with white chocolate. Chill for 10 minutes. Spread the gray chocolate over the strips to about 2mm thick, then chill for roughly 5 minutes—long enough to set, but not so long that it snaps.
9. Wrap the pliable chocolate strips around the chilled cake, pressing them against the sides. Chill for 15 minutes. Peel away the acetate only when the collar is firm.
10. Make the brittle. Melt the sugar in a heavy pan over medium heat, shaking the pan rather than stirring, until deep golden. Add the chopped hazelnuts, swirl to coat, and pour onto a lined sheet. Cool completely.
11. Melt the extra 25g white chocolate and drizzle it over the brittle. Once set, break the brittle into shards and arrange them on top of the cake. Serve.

Baker’s tips

• Have the acetate measured and the cake chilled before you melt the collar chocolate. This is a choreography recipe: preparation is what makes the flourish look easy.
• The gray chocolate should be firm but flexible when wrapped. If it cracks, warm it for a few seconds; if it droops, chill it briefly.
• Do not stir dry caramel once it begins to color. Swirl the pan to even it out and add the nuts only when the sugar is deep golden.
• Use a food-safe acetate or a commercial cake-collar strip. Never use office plastic or an unverified craft material against food.
• The source recipe uses liqueur in both sponge and syrup. For an alcohol-free version, replace the Cointreau in the sponge with orange juice and use orange juice plus water in the syrup; note that this is an editorial substitution, not the published formula.

Make-ahead

Bake and syrup-brush the sponges one day ahead; wrap once cool. The chocolate-hazelnut mixture and brittle can be made two days ahead and stored airtight. Assemble and chill the cake the day before. Make the chocolate collar on the day of serving, or the night before if your refrigerator is stable and dry; keep the brittle sealed and add it shortly before serving so it stays crisp.