Konditor & Cook's Curly Whirly cake

Dark chocolate sponge

100g plain chocolate (drops or chopped chocolate)
250ml milk
275g soft brown sugar
2 medium eggs, beaten
100g salted butter
175g plain flour, sifted with 1tsp baking powder and 30g dark cocoa (2tbsp)
Vanilla frosting
200g full-fat cream cheese
400g icing sugar
vanilla bean (best-quality Mexican vanilla adds a wonderful aroma)
50g unsalted butter, melted
To make the sponge, line two 17cm sandwich tins with aluminium foil. Heat half the milk and
half the soft brown sugar in a saucepan, add the chocolate and melt by stirring constantly, to
stop the chocolate from setting at the bottom of the saucepan. Once melted, remove from the
heat and leave to cool.
Soften the salted butter, add the other half of the sugar, and cream until light and fluffy using
an electric mixer. Gradually add the beaten eggs, occasionally adding a few spoons of flour to
stop the mix from splitting.
Add the rest of the flour, add the cold milk, mix well, then add the still-warm chocolate milk.
Mix until smooth, with a very runny consistency. Divide mix by pouring into the two foil-lined
sandwich tins. Bake at 190C/Gas mark 5, for about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and
leave to cool in the tins.
Next, prepare all the ingredients for the frosting: melt the unsalted butter, sift the icing sugar
(if it is lumpy), put the cream cheese in a mixing bowl or food processor, cut the vanilla bean in
half lengthways, scrape out the seeds with a knife or pointed spoon and add to the cream
cheese (infuse the empty vanilla pod in the melting butter to extract further vanilla aroma).
Blend the cream cheese with the vanilla and icing sugar. Add the melted butter (remove the
vanilla pod first) and keep blending until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Sandwich the two sponges together with the mixture, then spread a thin layer of frosting on the
top and sides to bind any crumbs. Leave to set for an hour and then repeat the coating,
smoothing with a palette knife. Sprinkle with chocolate flakes or pipe with melted chocolate, if
you wish.