So how many Easter eggs were consumed in your household last week? We were quite restrained as my son only had four, which he managed to eat over a few days instead of wolfing the lot in one go! I decided to make a layered chocolate cake and had a go at making chocolate ganache.
So here’s a picture of the cake, and I’ve included a really easy chocolate cake recipe and also how to make whipped ganache….
My Favorite (One Bowl) Chocolate Cake
(Makes two 6-inch layers, adapted from Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake)
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant espresso
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 6-inch cake pans and set aside.
Combine the milk and vinegar in a liquid measuring cup and set aside.
Meanwhile, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, instant espresso, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, oil, vanilla extract, and half of the prepared sour milk. Mix for a minute or two, until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated. Continue to beat on low speed while gradually adding the rest of the sour milk. The batter will be runny, but that’s just right!
I put 370gms batter in each pan, just weigh it on the scale as you pour in the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans, and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Then, invert the cakes onto wire racks and cool completely before frosting.
For the chocolate ganache, put 200gms of finely chopped dark chocolate in a large glass bowl. Then heat 500ml of double cream in a saucepan until almost boiling. Pour over the chocolate, leave for a minute to let the chocolate melt a bit, then whisk until both ingredients are smoothly combined. Leave it to cool down, you can put it in the fridge to cool it faster if you need to. When it’s cooled down you can whisk it with an electric beater until its fluffy and doubled in volume.
I cut each cake layer in half and brushed caramel syrup on each layer, layering the cake with vanilla buttercream then covering it with ganache. It was very rich and delicious!
Thanks for reading!
