Sublime Chocolate Cake

photo courtesy of ulterior epicture

I have been looking for a really great chocolate cake recipe other than my all time winner, which I have been using for close to 20 years, just for a change and I found a great one one Bake my Day. My recipe also has butter milk in it and a lot of egges, so I expect this will be just as good if not better (Till date, I have yet to meet the Better recipe) I quote Bake My Day

Cake

(makes 2 cakes)

250 gr butter

250 gr bittersweet chocolate, in pieces

2 Tbs espresso powdered coffee

2oo ml hot water

150 gr selfrising flour

150 gr ap pastry flour

1/2 cup (60 gr) coco

1/2 tl baking soda

550 gr sugar

4 eggs

2 Tbs oil

125 ml buttermilk

Glaze

250 gr dark chocolate, in chunks

125 ml single cream

140 gr soft white sugar

You’ll need:

2 buttered/oiled springforms, 22 cm

Preheat oven 160grC

Baking time: approx. 60 minutes.

Method

In a small sauce pan, combine butter, chocolate and espresso powder with the hot water and heat on low until all is melted and the mix is smooth. In a large mixing bowl, sift flours, baking soda, cocoa, whisk in sugar en make a well in the middle. Combine eggs, oil and buttermilk and stir with a metal spoon to combine thoroughly. Once combined, add the slightly cooled chocolate mixture and stir to mix. Pour the batter in the springforms and bake for approx. 60 minutes. Start testing with a skewer after 45 minutes. Skewer needs to come out clean and dry. Let cool completely while still in the tins and unmold only when completely cooled. Your choice: either use both cakes to stack and fill with your choice of filling. In this case I used only 1 of the cakes and froze the other. I sliced to get two layers and filled with a thin spread of raspberry jelly followed by a layer of caramel sauce, topped with the remaining layer of cake and used the ganache to coat: Ganache: Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and melt on low heat while stirring. Bring to a soft boil, reduce the heat to very low again and leave to simmer for 4-5 minutes. Keep your eye on it to prevent from burning! Let cool a little and pour over the center of your cake (positioned on a rack over a large plate), gravity will help you get a nice smooth and shiny layer.

Yummy