Wedding Cake Attempt 2 - The Ultimate Chocolate Cake

The weekend is here again and I'm back to baking and the purpose today is a birthday cake. I can cook a thousand cakes for no purpose at all and they will all end out perfact, delicious and wonderful and the time I actually want the cake to be great hell no!! It just aint going to happen.


So it's 11:45pm and I have just put my second cake in the oven. The first one had gone perfect until I had started talking to my very good friend on spark and forget my cake was in the oven. The cake wasn't burnt to a cinder but did end up very cooked and very hard. I think if I threw it at a window it would definitely break the glass!!


Even Andy my other half thought it was solid and suggested I bake another cake, so right now, I am in my nighty with my apron on waiting for a cake which is going to take at least another hour to cook. I can't even use the excuse that its a new recipe, because nope, I've made this one before with excellent results.


Anyhows, thats enough of my trials and tribulations - here is the recipe, it is taken from Hotel Chocolate 101 Best Chocolate Recipes.


The Recipe - Angela Nilsens - Ultimate Chocolate Cake
200g butter, plus extra to grease
200g dark chocolate (about 60% cocoa solids) in pieces
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
125ml cold water
85g self raising flour
85g plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarb of soda
200g light muscavado sugar
200g golden caster sugar
25g cocoa powder
3 medium eggs
75ml buttermilk


Ganache
200g good-quality dark chocolate , as above
284ml carton double cream (pouring type)
2 tbsp golden caster sugar 

The Method

1. Butter a 20cm round cake tin (7.5cm deep) and line the base. Preheat the oven to fan 140C/conventional 160C/ gas 3. Break the chocolate in pieces into a medium, heavy-based pan. Tip in the butter, then mix the coffee granules into 125ml/4fl oz cold water and pour into the pan. Warm through over a low heat just until everything is melted - don't overheat. Or melt in the microwave on Medium for about 5 minutes, stirring half way through. 
2. While the chocolate is melting, mix the two flours, bicarbonate of soda, sugars and cocoa in a big bowl, mixing with your hands to get rid of any lumps. Beat the eggs in a bowl and stir in the buttermilk. 
3. Now pour the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until everything is well blended and you have a smooth, quite runny consistency. Pour this into the tin and bake for 1 hour 25- 1 hour 30 minutes - if you push a skewer in the centre it should come out clean and the top should feel firm (don't worry if it cracks a bit). Leave to cool in the tin (don't worry if it dips slightly), then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4.  When the cake is cold, cut it horizontally into three. Make the ganache: chop the chocolate into small pieces and tip into a bowl. Pour the cream into a pan, add the sugar, and heat until it is about to boil. Take off the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
5. Sandwich the layers together with just a little of the ganache. Pour the rest over the cake letting it fall down the sides and smoothing to cover with a palette knife. Decorate with grated chocolate or a pile of chocolate curls. The cake keeps moist and gooey for 3-4 days.

You can also find this recipe at http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3092/ultimate-chocolate-cake . I played around with using a white chocolate ganache as well as the one in this recipe, both work really well and taste delicious.