Chocolate Cake with Ganache
Ingredients
- 200 g Caster sugar (normal or golden)
- 3 packets Cadbury's Chocolate fingers (optional)
- 200 g Double cream
- 150 g Dark chocolate
- A little for greasing the tin Soft butter / vegetable oil
- 140 g Plain flour
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 60 g Cocoa powder (good quality - not drinking chocolate)
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract (optional)
- 4 Eggs
- 200 g Unsalted butter, softened
- Large bag Maltesers (optional)
Accompaniment
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Description
One of my favourite chocolate cake recipes as it is simple, rich and chocolatey, and not too sweet. The whipped ganache is a great alternative to buttercream.
Method
-
1
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Grease 2 X 20cm/8 inch Victoria sandwich tins and line the bases with baking paper.
With an electric hand whisk, or in a stand mixer / food processor, cream together the butter and sugar for at least a minute until pale and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a cup, add the vanilla extra if using, and beat lightly with a fork. Sift the cocoa powder, baking powder and flour into another bowl. Add about half of the beaten egg and about half of the flour etc. to the creamed mixture and beat for about a minute until well mixed, then repeat with the rest.
Spoon into the prepared tins and bake for 25 minutes, or until a skewer / cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave in the tins for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, peel off the paper and leave to cool completely.
To make the whipped ganache, break the chocolate into small pieces and put them into a large heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until hot but not boiling (take off the heat just as tiny bubbles start to appear on the surface). Immediately pour the hot cream over the chocolate, stir, then put a plate over the top and leave for a minute or two, then take off the plate and stir well, until all the chocolate has melted and it is thick and glossy.
Chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes (you want it cold, but not solid).
Whisk with an electric hand whisk for 30 - 60 seconds. It will lighten in colour and the texture will be a little more like buttercream.
Put one of the cakes on a serving plate / board. Dollop about 1/4 of the ganache onto the cake, put the other cake on top and use the rest of the ganache to cover the top and sides.
You can serve it as it is, or decorate as you wish. This time I put chocolate fingers around the sides of the cake and a circle of Maltesers on top.
Chef's Tips
This quantity can also be used to make about 20-24 cupcakes (bake for about 20 minutes).
If you don't have sandwich tins, just use a large tin, bake for about 35-40 minutes and cut the cake in half when cool (you can level the top too, if needed).
If you find that you still have lumps of chocolate in your ganache (this may happen if the pieces are too large, or the cream is not quite hot enough), simply put the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until it has melted.
If you prefer to make a milk chocolate ganache, use 3 parts chocolate to 1 part cream.
Decorating tips:
A palette knife, or blunt knife is easiest for spreading the ganache over the cake, and it helps to put little scraps of baking paper under the cake to avoid mess - pull away when you have finished. To stop it sliding on the plate / board, you can use a little ganache to hold the bottom cake in place.
If you have any ganache left over, chill in the fridge, then shape into little balls and roll in cocoa powder to make truffles.
This cake is also good with just a dusting of icing sugar, or buttercream / cream cheese icing (e.g. plain, vanilla, chocolate or mint).
Keeps well in an airtight tin for a few days.
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