Decadent Chocolate Cake

A good gooey chocolate cake is a work of art. I honestly cannot stand a lot of store cake - it has to be moist and dessert like to be a proper cake for me. My niece is the same - its all about brownies with her - although I have been able to convince her with a good gooey chocolate fudge cake.

This is the ultimate chocolate cake recipe, and I'm reminded of it because, yet again, I am attending a wedding with a Bake Off competition as dessert.

Triple Chocolate Decadence Cake

This cake is a bit of an epic one to make in that it does take awhile, but it is relatively easy - just long cooking times/chilling times.  The one bonus for this cake for us is that it lasts really well. I used this recipe to create a cake for my brothers wedding. That cake WAS a monster, and needed a few days of construction, but the cake was still moist and gorgeous at the wedding and for a few days after - nearly a week after baking. Kept wrapped it was most definitely still edible. With only two of us at home, and for me not up for death by chocolate, a cake that lasts well is a must! It is a long slow bake, so I often put potatos in the bottom of the oven at the same time for making gnocchi (but that is another recipe)

For the cake:

325g butter
325g plain chocolate (at least 70%)
50ml dark strong coffee
1tsp Vanilla essence
475g brown sugar
325g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
5 eggs
284ml sour cream

Heat your oven to 140C / gas 4, and grease and double-line your cake tin.

Melt the butter and chocolate together over a low heat. Once smooth add the coffee and vanilla

Break up any lumps in the brown sugar into a large bowl. Sift in the remaining dry ingredients. In another bowl/jug beat the eggs and sour cream together, and then add to the dry ingredients along with the chocolate mix. Stir with a wooden spoon until you have a gooey, thick, delicious batter.

Put in the cake tin, then bake for 2½ hrs - don't open the oven door before 2 hrs is up, as this will cause the cake to sink. Once cooked, leave in the tin to cool completely.

ICING

For the buttercream:

250g icing sugar
125g butter
100ml cream
80g plain chocolate.

Make a basic buttercream mixture by putting the butter and icing sugar into the food processor until creamed together, or make the traditional way of creaming the butter then mixing in the sugar.  Bring the cream to the boil, then pour over the broken up chocolate. Leave for a few moments before stirring until smooth. Add the chocolate mixture to the butter cream and beat until blended.

 

For the white chocolate ganache:

400g white chocolate

200ml double cream

Melt the chocolate into the cream in a bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water. When melted and combined, leave to cool, stirring often to break up any “skin” that forms. Once it is cool, whisk until its nice and fluffy.

CONSTRUCTING THE CAKE

Slice the cake in half , then sandwich together using about half buttercream, before using the rest to put a thin layer to "crumb-coat" the cake. Put the iced cake into the fridge to harden the icing. This ensures the white chocolate icing stays looking white. Once the icing is hard, carefully ice using the ganache however you wish, I used a palette knife then a piping bag on the edges, but you could easily pipe the whole thing. Return to the fridge to harden the ganache and voila! Triple Chocolate Decadence!