Another chocolate cake, really !!! But can you have too many ??? I don’t think so, especially when your Husband and one of your Best Friends, (you know who you are), love chocolate cake and sometimes it is nice to try other recipes, even though my Fudge Cake is still by far my favourite and does make the best ever moist chocolate cake. This cake however does have some other virtues, like the yummy filling. Everyone loved the difference in texture of the light sponge, rich ganache and soft mousse like buttercream centre, it was so easy to make and I would definitely make the buttercream again for my Fudge Cake.
This recipe came from Hannah Miles new booked called Naked Cakes, it is just gorgeous and my cup of tea. I love the simplicity of the recipes but then they are taken to a another level by the way they are put together. The way Hannah decorates by using lovely ingredients all so very cleverly makes these ordinary cakes just stunning and I can not wait to bake my way through the entire book.
When Hubby asked for a chocolate cake on Friday evening I was more than happy to start with this recipe, but I am so looking forward to baking cakes that are more me and to my taste and style, I was going to list a couple for you, to give you an idea of what is to come, but when I started leafing through the book I realised that I wanted to tell you about them all, so it will be easier to show you as I bake them.
What I can tell you is, that its making me very hungry and I am now craving cake! This is not good as I am trying to be good this week as I want to loose a couple of pounds. No cake, feels like torture and its so grotty outside after the gorgeous sunny weekend, that all I fancy doing is having a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake, but I must be strong and I do have friends coming round on Friday, so that will be the perfect excuse to be naughty and fall off the wagon. Well, I can not expect people to come over and not offer them fresh baked cake can I ! It would be unheard of and they would be extremely shocked. Coming to my house always means cake !
Well I must dash, I have so much to do today, but I just wanted to get this recipe on as I wanted to share it with my friend Fiona, she loves a good chocolate cake and I will hopefully be back soon with another cake from this fab book, I highly recommend it. . Enjoy 😉
Buon appetito
Serves 8
225g butter, softened
225g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
200g self-raising flour, sifted
60g cocoa powder, sifted
2 tablespoons natural plain yoghurt
a pinch of salt
For the filling:
250g icing sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 tablespoon cream cheese
a little milk (if needed)
For the ganache topping:
100ml double cream
100g plain dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
Grease and line two 8 inch/ 20cm round cake tins.
Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F, Gas 4.
To prepare the sponge, using a mixer, whisk together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and whisk again. I lightly beat the eggs in a small measuring jug and then slowly trickle the eggs in on a fairly slow mix, if it starts to curdle/separate I just add a tablespoon of flour.
Fold in the flour, cocoa powder, yoghurt and salt using a spatula until everything is evenly mixed.
Divide the mixture equally between the prepare cake tins. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cakes spring back to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Allow to cool completely.
For the filling:
Whisk together the icing sugar, cocoa powder, butter and cream cheese until you have a smooth, thick icing, adding a little milk if needed, you are looking for a mousse like mix.
For the ganache:
Put the cream, chocolate, butter and syrup in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Heat until the chocolate has melted, then stir everything together so that you have a smooth glossy sauce. I allowed mine to set a little before using as I didn’t want it to run off the cake.
Place one of the cakes on to your chosen serving plate and use a palette knife or metal spatula to spread a thick layer of the buttercream filling. Place the second cake on top and spread with a thick layer of the ganache. Allow the ganache to set before serving.
This cake will keep for a few days stored in an airtight tin and as the case with many chocolate cakes I think it is better the day after baking, it becomes more moist.
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