A decadent chocolate cake recipe Drizzle and Dip

This decadent chocolate cake is one of my all-time favourite chocolate cakes and is one I made years ago on my blog. It could be my ultimate chocolate cake. Smothered with buttercream frosting and decorated with chocolate eggs, it is the perfect Easter treat.

I’ve used raisins to replace some of the sugar in this recipe to deliver a delicious base note that is perhaps better than the original. The cake is dense and rich. You don’t specifically pick up on the flavour, but it makes the cake slightly less sweet.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin (or two tins) and bake for 1 hour 25 minutes – 1 ½ hours. If you are using 2 x 18cm tins – the cakes should be baked in 1 hour. Check by piercing the cake with a small sharp knife or skewer. The cake is done if it comes out clean and should be springy to the touch. The top of the cake will be firm and may have a few cracks.

Tips & substitutions for this decadent chocolate cake

If you don’t have self-raising flour, simply use 150 grams of cake or all-purpose flour and 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder. Remember to sift the two together before adding them to the mixture (at least once, but twice is preferable).
You can use less chocolate if you prefer (180 grams) and can get away with using cheaper dark chocolate if you want to save on costs. To make it the ultimate cake, use 70%.

Adapted from BBC Good Food magazine I find the ganache too rich for this chocolate cake so have replaced it with my favourite buttercream frosting.

Ingredients

cake:

200 gm dark chocolate preferably 70% couverture
200 gms butter
1 tbsp instant coffee
85 gms self-raising flour
85 gms cake flour flour
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
100 gms raisins
100 gms dark brown treacle sugar
200 gms white sugar
25 gms cocoa powder 5 level tablespoons
3 large free-range eggs room temp
75 ml buttermilk 5Tbsp
1 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting:

230 gms 2 sticks salted butter
170 gms icing / powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp very strong coffee or espresso cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
50 gms Cocoa powder
100 gms good quality dark chocolate with 70% milk solids melted and then cooled

Instructions

To make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 160 C / and grease and line a 20cm round cake (at least 7 cm deep) or 2 x 18cm cake tins pan with baking paper.
Break the chocolate into pieces in a small pan and add the butter.
Dissolve the coffee with 125ml of cold water and then add to the butter and chocolate mixture and melt all together over gentle heat. Do not boil. Set aside to cool.
In a bowl sift the 2 flours and bicarb.
Using a small food processor, grind the raisins with the white sugar until it’s as fine as it will go. It may clump a bit but don’t worry. If your food processor bowl can accommodate all the sugar, then add the brown sugar as well.
Add the sugar mix, sugar and cocoa to the flour and mix until combined. Use your hands if necessary to break up any clumps of raisin sugar.
In a separate bowl beat the eggs until light and fluffy. Add the buttermilk and briefly beat it together.
Add the cooled chocolate mixture and the egg/buttermilk mix to the dry mix and fold it all together by hand.
Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin (or two tins) and bake for 1 hour 25 minutes – 1 ½ hours. If you are using 2 x 18cm tins – the cakes should be baked in 1 hour. Check by piercing the cake with a small sharp knife or skewer. The cake is done if it should come out clean and should be springy to the touch. The top of the cake will be firm and may have a few cracks.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin, and when it’s completely cool, remove it from the tin and peel off the paper.
Cut the cake into 2 or 3 horizontally (or the 18cm into 2 making a total of 4 layers for the cake) and ice the cake with the chocolate frosting

To make the frosting:

To make the frosting place all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until light and very fluffy. You can use a handheld electric beater for this too.

Servings: 1 large cake

Author: Sam Linsell