literature

Chocolate Cake Recipe

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BisectedBrioche
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The Chocolate Cake With Excessively Thick Icing

Equipment
  • Two 9 inch cake tins with removable bases
  • 2 circles of greaseproof paper the size of your baking tins' bases
  • A large pan of water and a smaller pan (feel free to use a double boiler instead if you own one)
  • At least two mixing bowls
  • Scales
  • Sieve
  • Spatula
  • Whisk (normal or electric, a hand cranked one won't work!)
  • Cooling Rack


Ingredients (Sponge)
  • 250g Margarine or Butter (suitable for baking)
  • 200g Plain flour
  • 50g Cocoa Powder
  • 250g Caster Sugar
  • 4 tsp. Baking Powder/Soda
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tbsp. hot water


Ingredients (icing)
  • 125g Butter or Margarine (only solid butter will do, no spreads or shortenings)
  • 50-100g of cocoa powder (to taste)
  • 50-100g icing sugar or white caster sugar (to taste)
  • Boiling Water
  • 156ml whipping cream
  • 200g Dark Chocolate


Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
  2. Grease the tins and place the greaseproof paper on the base of each.
  3. Chop up the butter or margarine (for the sponge) and place it in a bowl.
  4. Add the sugar and mash it all together with a fork or spoon. You should end up with a creamy consistency.
  5. Use the sieve to sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into another bowl.
  6. Beat in the eggs into the sugar and butter mixture one by one. Add a little of the flour with the last.
  7. Whisk the egg mixture thoroughly until smooth and tip in the remaining flour. Stir it until it forms a cohesive mass.
  8. Add the hot water. Beat with the whisk until smooth.
  9. Separate the mixture evenly into each tin. Place them in the middle of the oven for 20-30 minutes (don't check on them for at least 20 minutes or you risk letting the sponge collapse before it's solidified). You'll know they're ready when a skewer stuck in the middle comes out completely clean (not even any greasy residue).
  10. While the sponge is cooking, you can get ready for the icing. Clean both bowls (or get some clean ones out to use).
  11. In one bowl place the butter (chopped up), and whatever your preferred amount of icing sugar and cocoa powder is. In another bowl place 2 tablespoons of cocoa  powder and one of icing or caster sugar. Measure out the cream while you're at it but leave it in the measuring jug for now.
  12. Mash the contents of the first bowl together thoroughly until you have a perfectly smooth paste.
  13. Begin heating the water in your large pan. Break up the dark chocolate and put it in the smaller one.
  14. Wait for the sponge to finish cooking (if they haven't already) and give them at least 15 minutes to cool on the rack after removing them from the pan and peeling off the paper.
  15. Put one of the sponge layers on a plate soft side (i.e. the side you removed the paper from) down.
  16. Spread the icing from the first bowl over the top and smooth it with the spatula. When it's spread over the top evenly, place the second layer on top of it. Transfer this to the fridge to chill it a bit while you prepare the final part of the icing...
  17. Melt the chocolate in the small pan by holding it over the pan of boiling water while stirring it. Try not to dip your finger in it and try some unless you've washed your hands.
  18. Put the liquid chocolate to one side for a moment (don't worry, it won't start freezing for a minute or two) and add two tablespoons of boiling water to the second bowl.
  19. Stir the contents of the bowl until the sugar and cocoa have dissolved to form a small, dark sludge. Now tip in the chocolate and stir or whisk the mixture until it's all dissolved.
  20. Pour in the cream. Stir it in then beat it with the whisk until it starts to thicken (it won't solidify for hours, so don't worry about that). It should be thick enough to stick to a spatula and slowly slide of, as well as smooth.
  21. Remove the cake from the fridge. Pour the mixture over the top (once again, if you wish to sample some with your finger, wash your hands!).
  22. Let the icing drip over the sides of the cake. If any dribbles too far and onto the cake then scoop it up and spread it around the edges. Keep spreading it with the spatula until the entire outside the cake is covered in an even layer.
  23. Leave the cake in the fridge overnight so that the icing can set.
  24. Serve (you know how to serve cake, right? =P).


Sources
  • Chocolate sponge recipe adapted from the Victoria sponge cake recipe featured in The Student Cookbook (ISBN-13: 978-0-600-60965-0, ISBN-10: 0-600-60965-0).
  • Middle layer icing comes from an old family recipe.
  • Outer layer of icing comes from the "Atomic Fudge Cake" recipe listed on wikibooks.
Here's the recipe for my chocolate cake.

You can use cake flour instead of sifting plain flour with baking powder, but it gives a much less fluffy cake so I've recommend adding a teaspoon or so of it anyway (you still need to sift it with the cocoa powder).

And here's one I made earlier; [link]
© 2011 - 2024 BisectedBrioche
Comments16
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goldwyn11's avatar
goldwyn11
My favorite part of this recipe is the parts that say "to taste", like I wouldn't just triple it :)