Seriously Chocolate Cake

This cake was made just in time for this mother's day weekend  celebrations. This is a chocolate lover's cake. The moist chocolate cake (Valrhona cocoa powder) is layered with real good chocolate (Callebuat 70% chocolate) frosting, enrobed with more real good chocolate and decorated with Valrhona's chocolate pearls. With so much chocolate, the cake is chocolate ;)



To make this cake, use the best cocoa powder and chocolate you can get your hands on. The cake is really about chocolate and anything substandard will be a waste of your effort.

The cake was 'perspiring' in our humid, tropical weather. Tissue paper, please!

Seriously Chocolate Cake                          [Print Recipe]

(Adapted from SoNo Baking Company Book)

(makes two 6" 3 layers cakes and 6 medium size muffins)

Ingredients:

For the ganache for frosting and crumb coating the cake:

200g semisweet chocolate chip

200g bittersweet chocolate chip (I used Callebaut 70% cocoa chocolate chip)

400g heavy cream

23g good quality honey

1/2 tsp salt

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise or 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

For the pouring ganache for coating the cake:
200g bittersweet chocolate
250g heavy cream
10g good quality honey 

For the cake:

284g organic unbleached all purpose flour, sifted

113g unsweetened Valrohna cocoa powder or any good quality cocoa powder + 1 tsp instant coffee powder

316g boiling water

528g granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 large eggs, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

156g unsalted butter, melted

238g Greek yoghurt at room temperature, or 316 ml of buttermilk at room temperature

Steps to make the cake:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
• Butter and line two 6" cake pan and line 6 muffin cups.
• Add the boiling water to the cocoa powder and coffee powder mixture. Using a whisk, mix the water and powder mixture until there is no lumps.Set aside to let the mixture cool down to room temperature.
• In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat sugar and eggs until creamy and lighter in color, approximately 5 min.
• With mixer running, stream in the melted butter and followed by yoghurt. Mix till uniformly combined.
• Alternate the addition of flour and cocoa-coffee mixture in 3 additions, starting and ending with flour. Mix till no streaks of flour can be seen.
• Half filled the cake pans (approximately 800g of batter in each cake pan) and the muffin cups and place them on  baking trays to bake.
• Bake for 50 - 60 min for the cakes and 20 min for the muffins, or till cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 min, then carefully remove the cakes onto the rack and let cool completely.
• Freeze your cakes at this point as it will make cutting the layers and frosting much easier.
• Using a long serrated knife, slice the top off to level the cake and splice each cake horizontally into two layers. Place the bottom layer on a 6 inch cake round and place on a turntable. Using a offset spatula, spread thickly 1  cup of ganache onto the bottom layer as well as to the second layer.
• Add the top layer and spread it with a very thin layer of ganache (crumb coating) on top as well as all sides. Place the cake into the freezer for 1 hour to chill the cake.
• Place the cake on a cooling rack with a baking pan below, so as to collect any of the ganache that will drip off the cake when it is being coated.
• Pour the pouring ganache, in a circular motion, starting from the centre of the cake outwards. When you reach the edge of the cake, make sure you pour ganache onto the sides of the cake to coat it too. When the excess ganache have dripped off the cake, place the cake into the fridge to chill it for at least 2 hours, before serving.

Steps to make the ganache:

• Place the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl, set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine cream, honey and salt. Scrape the tiny black seeds from the vanilla bean pod, if using, into the cream, and add the pod. bring the cream to a simmer, pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand for 5 min to warm up the chocolate. 
• Whisk the mixture till smooth and strain. Discard the vanilla pod. Stir in extract, if using, at this point. Cover the mixture with a cling wrap and place into the fridge to chill till thickened to the consistency for frosting.

For pouring ganache:

• Place the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl, set aside. In a medium sauce pan, combine cream and honey and  bring the cream mixture to a simmer, pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand for 5 min to warm up the chocolate. 
• Whisk the mixture gently (so that you will not create too many air bubbles in the ganache) till smooth and pour into a cup with a pouring spout. Give the cup a few gentle tap on the table. This is to allow the bubbles formed during stirring to come to the surface of the ganache. Leave it at room temperature until the cake is ready to be coated. 

Happy Mother's day!

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