Tweed Cake
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Tweed Cake. Based upon a very familiar and popular cookie square recipe in Newfoundland when I was a kid...and still is in my family.
A popular treat at our house and all over Newfoundland when I was growing up, especially at holiday baking time, were Tweedies (a.k.a. Tweed Squares).
They have a vanilla cake bottom flecked with grated chocolate. The chocolate gets folded into the cake batter to produce the characteristic "tweed" effect.
The cake base then gets a liberal layer of vanilla frosting before being topped with a layer of melted chocolate.
I recently made a batch and it occurred to me for the first time that this would make a fantastic cake.
We had my parents and the in-laws over for Sunday dinner this week, so it was the perfect opportunity to try the idea out. It was a big hit!
The flavour of the familiar favourite was very apparent and a nice surprise for our dinner guests. Several went back for a second slice and everyone took a piece home for later.
So if you remember Tweedies or are being introduced them for the first time, I'll bet this cake idea will be a big hit at your next family dinner or get-together with friends too. Originally published on October 2, 2012.
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Tweed Cake
Based upon the Newfoundland favorite old fashioned cookie squares, this cake takes the concept to a whole new level and makes a fantastic celebration cake too.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 3 cups flour
- 4 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 egg whites
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 1 ounce dark chocolate, grated
For the frosting
- 1 ½ cups butter
- 6 ½ cups icing sugar
- 2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon milk
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- ½ cup whipping cream
Instructions
- Grease, flour and line the bottom of two 9 or 10 inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
- Separate four eggs, reserving the yolks for later. Beat the egg whites and ⅓ cup sugarwith an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and 1 cup sugar well.
- Add the 4 egg yolks along with the vanilla extract and beat until creamy.
- Fold in the flour mixture in 3 equal portions, alternating with the 1 cup milk.
- Add the milk in two equal portions in between the flour mixture additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Do mot over mix.
- Gently fold in the beaten egg whites and sugar.
- When the egg whites are almost incorporated fold in the grated chocolate.
- Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 20-25 minutes at 325 degrees F or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake the cake portion. Cool completely on a wire rack. Fill and frost the entire two layers with the vanilla frosting.
To make the vanilla frosting
- Cream together all of the ingredients until very creamy and fluffy.
- You may add a little milk a teaspoon at a time, if the frosting seems too stiff to be spreadable. This should be quite a thick frosting with plenty of vanilla flavor. You can add a little more or less mik or icing sugar to get it to a proper thick but spreadable consistency.
- Frost the middle and sides of the cake and chill for a couple of hours before adding the chocolate ganache finishing layer.
To make the chocolate ganache glaze
- Melt together the chocolate and cream in a double boiler over low heat.
- Cool to lukewarm and spread quickly over the chilled frosting.
- Let the chocolate set before cutting and serving.
Nutrition Information
Yield
16Serving Size
1 sliceAmount Per Serving Calories 601Total Fat 32gSaturated Fat 20gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 106mgSodium 364mgCarbohydrates 77gFiber 2gSugar 59gProtein 5g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
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Il est terriblement gourmand et généreux
Bonne journée
Valérie
That is such a pretty cake! I love the tweed effect (so creative) and that shiny chocolate exterior with the chocolate shavings. That's a nice hunk of frosting in the middle there too!
This looks sensational! I love the flecks of chocolate in the sponge, yum.
This looks delicious and I am just about to make it for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, but the recipe seems to be missing the baking temperature...
Thank you for all your wonderful recipes!
Wow, I am pretty sure that I an going to have to try that. One clarification though. Is it one cup milk divided or two cups added separately?
It's one cup divided TravelerBill....and I've added the baking temp which I forgot before.
Wow ! I made this cake yesterday for our Thanksgiving feast, and it is amazing. The cake is beautiful and tasted incredible.
I can always count on Rock Recipes.
Thanks for adding more joy to our lovely Thanksgiving Day.
Kim
All your cakes look wonderful. My son has requested this Tweed cake for his B-Day. Can't wait to try it.
Can this cake be stored at room temperature?
In a pinch yes but I always keep it in the fridge. Summer temperatures may not allow it to be stored at room temperature for practical reasons.
Gotta try this one!
Sounds wonderful. Can't wait to try it. Funny, though... we always referred to the cookies as "Tweedies", not Tweeds.
We did too Margaret.
My son's favorite cake as a boy was a Bundt version of this, using a golden cake mix. Great for our hectic lifestyle then. I recently made this for his 30th birthday celebrations. Was a wonderful improvement to the walk down memory lane and much appreciated!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Do you use real butter or margarine?
I only ever use butter for baking. Margarine is not permitted in my house. 😉
Can the batter be used to make the tweed squares?