Luxury Chocolate Cake Recipes

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 170 Celsius.Line and grease a 9"x9"x3"(height) baking pan or a 9" round one.
• 2. Sift flour,cocoa powder and soda bicarbonate twice and set aside.
• 3. Cream(beat with an electric mixer) butter and sugar on high for five minutes if using a regular mixer and 2 minutes if using a Ken wood or Kitchen Aid(they have larger motors and therefore are more powerful) till they are amalgamated,fluffy,pale and somewhat risen,scraping well in between(stopping the mixer periodically and scraping down the sides of the bowl.
• 4. with a rubber or silicone spatula).
• 5. To test,place a smidgen on thumb and rub between thumb and forefinger.If able to feel the sugar granules, beat on for an additional minute or two.However keep in mind that there is a fine line between just right and over beating which would result in a curdled looking mix.Fret not for it is salvageable,just stop beating and using a wooden spoon,fold the mix in one direction while the bowl is tilted at a 45 degree angle.
• 6. Once done,pour in the three eggs one at a time,beating well between additions.
• 7. Always break the eggs individually into a saucer before pouring into a bowl to prevent a fluke from occurring such as a spoiled egg contaminating the rest of the broken eggs or butter sugar mixture.
• 8. Add in the essence and coffee mix, beating well between additions.
• 9. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl
• 10. Fold in the combined flours using the same spoon in one direction a little at a time,it ought to take between 3 and 4 additions.
• 11. Always fold and stir in one direction with the bowl placed at a 45 degree angle to ease mixing.Ensure that no pockets of flour remain before giving the filled cake tin a thwack on the counter to remove any trapped air bubbles.
• 12. Place in the oven for 40 minutes,checking every five minutes after the thirty minute mark.
• 13. Remove from oven and insert a skewer or toothpick in the center of the cake.It should either come out clean or with a few crumbs sticking to it.
• 14. Should it be wet,place back in the oven for between 10 to 15 minutes and monitor closely.
• 15. When lightly pressed it should bounce back.Cool for five minutes in the pan before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• 16. Never slice a cake while still hot/warm as it is still soft and therefore crumbly or with a straight edged knife.
• 17. Always use as serrated knife for cutting a cake.
• 18. A chocolate cake like most spiced/fruity cakes tastes better the next day as the flavours have had time to settle into themselves quite like fish curry.
• 19. Cake can be placed outside for 3 days before they have to be refrigerated as they do not contain any preservatives.
• 20. As an alternative,one can also add a handful of chopped nuts for a nuttier flavour,raisins to increase the chewiness factor and chocolate chips, the latter increasing the chocolate flavour in the cake.If using additions,always dust with a half teaspoon of cocoa powder before folding in the mix prior to adding in the flour mixture.
• 21. This is to prevent the additions from sinking down to the bottom of the cake and splitting the cake into two halves when cutting into it.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Butter and line a 20cm round cake tin (7.5cm deep).
• Put 200g chopped dark chocolate in a medium pan with 200g butter.
• Mix 1 tbsp instant coffee granules into 125ml 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 for about 5 minutes, stirring halfway through.
• Mix 85g self-raising flour, 85g plain flour, ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda, 200g light muscovado sugar, 200g golden caster sugar and 25g cocoa powder, and squash out any lumps.
• Beat 3 medium eggs with 75ml buttermilk.
• Pour the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir everything to a smooth, quite runny consistency.
• Pour this into the tin and bake for 1hr 25 - 1hr 30 mins. If you push a skewer into 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. Cut the cold cake horizontally into three.
• To make the ganache, put 200g chopped dark chocolate in a bowl. Pour 300ml double cream into a pan, add 2 tbsp golden caster 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. Cool until it is a little thicker but still pourable.
• Sandwich the layers together with just a little of the ganache. Pour the rest over the cake letting it fall down the sides and smooth over any gaps with a palette knife.
• Decorate with 50g grated chocolate or 100g chocolate curls. The cake keeps moist and gooey for 3-4 days.