How To Bake The Ultimate Chocolate Cake
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It’s National Chocolate Cake Day, hooray! Here are all the recipes you need to make the ultimate chocolate cake, no matter your dietary requirements.
FULL CHOCOLATE CAKE
This recipe is taken from Preppy Kitchen.
Servings: 10 people
What you’ll need:
For cake:
120ml soured cream
236ml buttermilk
3 large eggs
355ml strong hot coffee
177ml vegetable oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
360g plain flour
533g granulated sugar
50g cocoa powder
1½ tsp baking powder
1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
For buttercream:
680g icing sugar
338g unsalted, softened butter
60ml double cream
25g cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp espresso
¼ tsp salt
45g dark chocolate
What you’ll do:
First, preheat the oven to 180°C. Then, grease and line three 8” cake pans.
Sieve together the dry ingredients (including the sugar) into a bowl and whisk to combine. In a different bowl, add and whisk together the wet ingredients.
Then, add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together until smooth.
Evenly pour the mixture between the tins and put in the oven for between 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
While the cakes are cooling, make the buttercream. In a small bowl, combine the dark chocolate with two tablespoons of cream and microwave for 30 seconds on half power. Stir to combine and then set aside.
Put your softened butter in a stand mixer and whip up using a paddle attachment for about two minutes. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mix the butter by hand, but it might take a while longer. Keep mixing until smooth and fluffy.
Next, add your cocoa powder and salt to the butter and mix to combine. Make sure it’s fully combined before adding the icing sugar, a heaped spoon at a time. When you’ve mixed all the ceiling sugar in, pour in the cream, vanilla and espresso and mix until you have a nice smooth consistency. Then finally, beat in the melted and cooled chocolate cream mixture.
Spread some buttercream between each cake layer and then around the outside and top of the cake. Smooth with a spatula or palette knife. If you have any buttercream left, pipe some blops on top or decorate in any way you fancy. Slice up and eat!
VEGAN CHOCOLATE AVOCADO CAKE
This recipe is taken from So Vegan.
Servings: 12 people
What you’ll need:
For cake:
1 medium avocado, peeled and pitted
½ cup vegetable oil
300g light muscovado sugar
200g plain flour
80g cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
120ml plant milk of your choosing
80 applesauce
Butter for greasing
For frosting:
4 tbsp maple syrup
2 avocados, peeled and pitted
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
What you’ll do:
First up, preheat your oven to 160°C.
Next, lightly grease three round 7” cake tins and line each base with greaseproof paper.
Put one avocado, sugar and vegetable oil in a food processor and process until the mixture is completely smooth. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can mix manually, it might just take a little longer!) Then transfer to a large mixing bowl and sieve in the flour, cocoa powder, and stir in the bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, 2 tsp of vanilla extract, milk, and applesauce.
Divide the cake mix evenly between the three cakes tins and smooth over the top of the mixture. Then put in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven, turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely. This can take up to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the avocado chocolate frosting by placing all the ingredients into a food processor and blending until smooth - or again, mixing by hand.
To build the cake, cover the first cake with a third of the frosting, then place the second cake on top and cover with another third of the frosting. Finally add the third cake and cover with the remaining frosting.
Top the cake with shavings and larger pieces of dark chocolate, and decorate with a few raspberries. Delicious!
GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE CAKE
This recipe is taken from BBC Good Food.
Serves: 10
What you’ll need:
For cake:
150ml vegetable oil
175g plain gluten free flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
50g cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
75g dark brown sugar
75g caster sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
2 eggs
100g greek yoghurt
100ml milk
2 tbsp instant coffee, dissolved in 4 tbsp hot water
For frosting:
300g icing sugar
25g cocoa powder
150g soft salted butter
3 tbsp milk
65g dark chocolate, melted
What you’ll do:
First, preheat the oven to 180°C. Then, grease the base of two 7” cake tins and line with greaseproof paper.
Next, mix the flour, xanthan gum, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, a large pinch of salt and both sugars together in a large bowl.
In another bowl, whisk the golden syrup, eggs, oil, yogurt, milk and coffee together. Gradually whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until you have a smooth mixture.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tins and bake for 30-35 mins until risen and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 mins in the tins before turning out onto a cooling rack.
While the cakes are cooling, make the icing. Beat the icing sugar, cocoa powder, butter and milk together for five mins until smooth and fluffy. Gradually pour in the melted chocolate while beating, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything’s included.
Spread half the icing over the middle of one sponge using a small palette knife. Sandwich the other sponge on top and spread the remaining icing around the top and sides of the cake, smoothing over with a palette knife. If you have any icing left, you can pipe some rosettes on top of the cake. Eat and enjoy!
