The Best Chocolate Cake Ever, seriously. Inspired by my favourite Chetna Makan’s Recipe. To be honest, you cannot go wrong with any of her cake recipes. I made many cakes of hers and I truly love them all.
This chocolate cake is the best fresh. Once the ganache is set and everything has a room temperature, you can enjoy it with a dollop of whipped cream. So yummy! The Chocolate sponge is incredibly moist and the coffee gives a very good taste in it, but it isn’t overwhelming. Don’t worry about that! Once the cake has been refrigerated, the ganache gets more firm. Therefore, always take it out before serving, so the ganache is nicely melting. Perfection, trust me.
The Best Chocolate Cake Ever is suitable for kids from the age of 3 for obvious “sweet” reasons. Offer in the afternoon with a cup of tea or milk. What’s there not to love?
Total Time: 1 hour
Shopping List
The Chocolate Sponge:
1 tablespoon of instant decaf coffee
180ml of hot boiling water
150g of butter, soft in cubes
250g of caster superfine sugar
1 large egg
A splash of rum
150g of plain flour, sifted
50g of ground almonds, sifted
50g of cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 teaspoon of soda bicarbonate and baking powder without phosphate, sifted
100g of sour creamThe Chocolate Ganache:
150g of dark chocolate + 100g of milk chocolate
300ml of double cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
25g of butter
Rolled cookie wafer tubes to decorate with
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
The Chocolate Sponge
First, dissolve 1 tablespoon of instant coffee in 180ml of hot boiling water and set aside.
Second, in a large mixing bowl ease the butter and stir in the caster sugar. Whisk until incorporated for about 1-2 minutes. Then, add 1 whole egg and a splash of rum. Mix until fluffy and foamy, for about 3 minutes on high speed.
Third, in a small mixing bowl put all the dry ingredients: flour, almonds, cocoa powder, soda, baking powder and stir.
Next, dissolve 100g of sour cream in a warm coffee and start putting all the bowls together: 2-3 tablespoons of dry mixture into the butter mix. Pour in a bit of coffee mix. Repeat until there is nothing left. Give it a good mix.
Mold it into 2 lightly greased baking tins lined with some baking paper (I used 20 cm). Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until a wooden skewer comes clean from the middle and the edges of the cakes are separated from tins. Take them out and let them cool down entirely.
The Chocolate Ganache
In a steam bath melt 150g of dark and 100g of milk chocolate. Gradually, start adding the double cream. Mix until you get a smooth and shiny texture. In total, you need 300ml of double cream, perhaps a bit less.
Afterwards, take off the heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and the butter. Mix and mix until it is dissolved completely. Taste and set aside.
Presentation
Once The Sponges have been cooled down, start building the best chocolate cake ever. Flip the tins and gently take the baking papers away. If needed, cut of the excess from top of The Sponges.
Put a bit of The Ganache in the bottom of your serving plate. Stick the first Sponge on top of it and generously cover with the filling. Repeat and cover the whole cake with this yummy Ganache.
As per your imagination, decorate with rolled cookie wafer tubes, chocolate curls, shavings or any other bonbons you have mood for. Splendid!
Makes 10 serves.
