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- Photo: Allen Gathman / Flickr
This chocolate cake recipe is melt-in-your mouth, besides being simple and reliable. It’s not too rich but that doesn’t stop it from offering a wonderfully indulgent taste experience. It isn’t difficult to make and requires the following ingredients: plain cake flour, caster sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa, butter, eggs, vanilla extract and sour cream. The icing requires 70 per cent cocoa solid chocolate, icing sugar, golden syrup and additional vanilla extract, butter and sour cream.
Prepare the chocolate cake
Grease two 20 cm sandwich tins with removable bases and preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Place the following ingredients into your food processor: 200 grams plain cake flour (sifted), 200 grams of fine castor sugar, 1 level teaspoon of fresh baking powder (always check the expiry date before using baking powder), ½ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and 180 grams of butter (at room temperature).
Add 2 eggs (large and at room temperature), 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, 150 ml of sour cream (at room temperature) and 40 grams of cocoa powder. Process all the ingredients together until you have a thick and smooth consistency. Pour the batter into the tins and bake for 25 minutes. Use a skewer to check for readiness ‑ you may have to bake for a further 10 minutes.
Prepare the icing
While the cakes are cooling in their tins on a wire rack, measure out the following ingredients for the icing: 75 grams of butter, 180 grams of dark chocolate (chopped into pieces), 300 grams of sifted icing sugar, 1 tablespoon of golden syrup, 130 grams of sour cream and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Turn the cakes out of their tins and prepare the icing by melting the butter and chocolate in short bursts in the microwave. Be careful not to burn the mixture. Let the mixture cool a little before stirring in the syrup, vanilla and sour cream. Whisk in the icing sugar.
The icing should be able to coat a wooden spoon without running. Adjust the consistency if necessary by adding a little more icing sugar or a teaspoon of boiling water.
Sandwich and ice the cake
Place one of the cool cakes onto a cake stand so that the domed top faces downwards (cut it slightly if it’s too domed). Spread a generous even layer of icing over the top so that you have about two thirds of the icing left in the bowl.
Place the second cake on top of the icing and spread icing around the sides. Finally, spread all the remaining icing onto the top of the cake. You could smooth it out or create a textured finish, depending on your inclination.
Leave the cake to set for several minutes before decorating it with hundreds and thousands, chocolate splinters, Maltese chocolates or chocolate chips. For an elegant looking cake, sprinkle with gold sprinkles or freshly cut flowers. Alternatively, simply sift cocoa over the chocolate cake.
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