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It took me six months to create this viral 24-layer chocolate cake – but was it worth the wait?

A slice of Get Baked's “Bertha” cake is about the size of my head… (Image: Courtney Pochin)

The chocolate cake from Matilda has lived rent-free in my head since 1996.

Every time I've eaten a chocolate cake, I've compared it to the fictional one that Bruce Bogtrotter just couldn't keep his hands off – and nothing has ever quite come close. (Although Cutter & Squidge cakes come pretty close!)

But then I discovered that there was a cake that people claimed was exactly like the one in the movie, and lo and behold, it was even named Bruce.

And even though its creator Rich Myers insists that the inspiration for the cake was neither Roald Dahl's book nor its famous adaptation, people couldn't help but compare the two.

Sold by Get Baked, a Leeds-based dessert company, Bruce was a 24-layer dark chocolate cake, consisting of 12 layers of sponge and 12 layers of ganache, and weighed a whopping 1kg per slice.

You've probably seen photos of it online. This behemoth of a cake sold out in seconds every week and thousands of slices were shipped across the UK.


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People even travelled from far and wide to try Bruce, with couples even coming from the US to visit the bakery in Headingley.

Get Baked x Fortnum's box on a plate, with teapot, cup of tea and Get Baked cookbook on the table.

Get Baked has teamed up with Fortnum's in London to sell its sweet treats. (Image: Courtney Pochin)

As a cake lover, I'm always on the hunt for an incredible slice and I also love seeing what the next big foodie trend is going to be, so Bruce became something of an obsession for me because it was just so damn out of reach.

I spent six months trying (and failing) to get my hands on one piece. It was in my online shopping cart, but sold out before I could even enter my card details.

And now Bruce is no more…

Get Baked has decided to retire its hit product after three years of viral madness. When I heard the news, I was disappointed that I never got to try the cake. But thankfully, there is a silver lining.

Although the company will no longer produce the “Bruce” cake, it has instead introduced a new, strikingly similar cake called “Bertha.”

According to Rich, Bertha is Bruce's wife and the name was chosen because it sounds “big.” Like Bruce's, this is an epic 24-layer cake, but while the former was made with only dark chocolate, Bertha's recipe uses a mix of milk and semisweet chocolate.

“We've taken Bruce out of the range for a number of reasons,” Rich tells Metro.co.uk. “The main reason is that the cake has been copied so many times and people have been selling fake versions of it, so it's become very toxic. But we also wanted to change the recipe, so it seemed like a good opportunity to tackle both problems at the same time.”

“So we killed Bruce and we're going to introduce more cakes… there's going to be a whole family. Bruce and Bertha have a son that nobody knows about yet, but he's coming out too.”

While it may have been a little difficult for me to get hold of Bruce, I was lucky enough to be the first person in the UK to try Bertha, ahead of the cake's official launch this week.

Get Baked has teamed up with Fortnum & Mason to host an eight-week pop-up at the iconic London department store, meaning you won't have to try your luck online to get your hands on a slice. There are also other treats on offer, including a Knickerbocker Glory Pie, Cinnamon Roll Cookies and limited edition brownies.

The collaboration launched this week; Bertha is available at Fortnum's for £17 a slice and Metro.co.uk was given an exclusive taste of the new cake to celebrate the occasion.

Was the wait for the viral 24-layer chocolate cake really worth it?

Courtney looks at a piece of Bertha chocolate cake

Find someone who looks at you the way Courtney looks at Bertha… (Image: Courtney Pochin)

If you had asked me after the first bite, I would have told you that I was a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it is a very good Chocolate cake, but after waiting so long to try it, I had definitely escalated the whole thing to a ridiculous standard in my head.

Trying it out wasn't the life-changing experience I was hoping it would be, but I'm certainly very glad I got my hands on it.

At room temperature, the ganache is velvety smooth and wonderfully rich – but not so rich that you'll feel sick after just a few bites.

The sponge is quite dense, but surprisingly not as heavy as you'd expect (Get Baked puts this down to the new 50/50 split of milk and dark chocolate, as the full dark chocolate cake was reportedly much heavier).

It tasted incredibly delicious and I just wanted to keep going, which is dangerous when one piece of cake can feed four people.

Bertha after her stay in the hot air fryer

Bertha tastes even better when warmed up in the microwave. (Image: Courtney Pochin)

I can't say it's the best cake I've ever eaten, but it's really not hard to see why it goes viral every week.

If you like chocolate cake then I think it's definitely worth a try, especially because it's something new, because how often do you get the chance to eat something this big?! (Don't mind the gutter, folks…)

But would I wait another six months for another piece? Absolutely not.

This is where the popup comes in handy, though, as it (hopefully) makes grabbing a piece a little easier.

For those who manage to secure the stuff, Rich's top tip is to cut off a slice of the cake and throw it in the microwave or air fryer as you reheat it. Leave it in there for 10 seconds until the ganache is gloriously melted and so glossy, but be careful not to do it for too long or the ganache will split.

The result is a decadent hot chocolate dessert that's nostalgic (remember chocolate pudding with chocolate cream in elementary school?!) and somehow tastes even better than before.

Final verdict: Bertha is a real cake monster, she is big, she tastes so good of chocolate and in my opinion she is best served warm.

It's not cheap, but you get a pretty versatile dessert that will feed several people at once. I have to say, I'm a fan and can't wait to try more from Get Baked… so I guess I'll see you at Fortnum's.

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