I joined CCC in 2012; my first event was actually the day the Olympic Torch came through Leeds (I remember going to see it with my bestie Rhianne before heading to cake club). I used to attend the events in the city centre and in Headingley as I worked nearby and when we moved to Otley I also joined Wharfedale.

I hadn't been a member of Wharfedale for long when a call was put out by the then organiser Kathryn for someone to help. For 2 years we ran the club together, sourcing venues, recruiting members and hosting all manner of events. 

In 2015 Kathryn decided to step down and I took over full running of the club (while planning a wedding!) and for a while things were ticking along nicely. We had our regulars, events took place every six weeks or so but then numbers started to drop and I had to cancel the odd event. Before long Ethan arrived and time was not on my side. Interest in the club was not the same as it was but from speaking to a few other organisers I knew they were facing the same issue. 

My good friend Amy (who I actually met through CCC) offered to help with the organising but even with two of us, we still struggled with numbers for events. Amy then said she had got a new job and was moving away (boo!) so we made the decision to both step down and hand the reins over to someone else.

I had been toying with the possibility of standing down for ages but didn't have the heart to admit defeat. Even with Amy's help it felt like the club was slowly disintegrating but we knew the time was right to leave. I feel sad about it as CCC was a massive part of my life for so long and without it I wouldn't have had a recipe published, had some fantastic opportunities and most of all met some wonderful people that I now class as dear friends.

To mark our final event, we all got together at Outside the Box cafe in Ilkey. It's a gem of a place that provides work for many people with disabilities. I wanted to make a special cake to mark the occasion so I decided to wing it in the kitchen (as always!) and opted for a Chocolate Crunchie Cake. I tried to turn it in to a drip cake but I think the ganache was a little too thick...

Ganache
150ml double cream
100g dark chocolate
50g milk chocolate

Heat the cream until warm but not hot
Mix in the chocolate and once smooth and glossy set aside to cool and firm up

Cake
2.5 cups SR Flour
2 cups soft dark brown sugar (although any sugar will be fine)
1 cup cocoa
1 cup veg/sunflower oil
1.5 cups of milk
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs

Preheat your oven to 160C (fan)
Grease and line two 20cm cake tins
Pop all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth
Divide between the two tins and bake for 40mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean
Tip onto a wire rack to cool

Buttercream
200g softened unsalted butter
500g icing sugar
3 tbsp cocoa
a few tbsp milk (to combine if needed)

Cream the butter, icing sugar and cocoa on a high speed for around 5 minutes until light and fluffy

If required, add the milk slowly to loosen the buttercream 

To Decorate

4 Crunchies

Chocolate honeycomb pieces (I got a bag from Asda)

Once cool level off the cake

Sandwich together the two sponges with some buttercream and a scattering of chopped up crunchie 

Coat the outside of the cake in the remaining buttercream

Pop in the fridge to firm up

Pour over the ganache encouraging it to pour down the sides of the cake (it may need a quick zap in the microwave to be the right consistency) 

Tumble over the remaining Crunchie and honeycomb pieces

Enjoy!

CCC is fantastic, a truly fantastic club set up by the amazing Lynn Hill. I'm still going to try and make it to other local clubs for future events and hopefully Wharfedale will find a new organiser so that more people can experience this the wonder that is The Clandestine Cake Club.