My childhood best friend, Sapna, came all of the way from Australia with her wonderful boyfriend to visit family and friends. Her trip was fleeting and after only a few days in the UK they both went on to continue their holiday in Europe. The short time that they were with us was great and just like old times!
Sapna has always obsessed about a gooey chocolate cake from one of the local supermarkets but it became discontinued some time after she left the UK for America. I wanted to make Sapna a chocolate cake and name it after her to hopefully replace that discontinued cake! So here it is... Sapna's Chocolate Cake.
Unfortunately, the recipe I used for the sponges failed miserably and they didn't end up rising. So, I've changed the recipe to make sure that doesn't happen again. Also, Sapna never got a chance to eat the cake in the end since we were so bloody busy - I'm going to have to bake and name something else after her again!!
Serves: 10-12
Keeps for up to 3 days
Ingredients:
Chocolate Sponges
- 150ml vegetable oil
- 200g plain flour
- 8 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 280g light brown soft sugar
- 200ml buttermilk
- 100ml strong coffee or espresso
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Chocolate Mousse Filling
- 120ml water
- 4tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp instant espresso coffee
- 125g milk chocolate
- 125g 70% dark chocolate
- 600ml double cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 3 tbsp Nutella
Chocolate Ganache Topping
- 150ml double cream
- 100g milk chocolate
- 100g 70% dark chocolate
Decoration
- 100g 70% dark chocolate or milk chocolate
- handful of fresh blackberries, placed in the freezer
- cocoa powder for dusting
Method:
Chocolate Sponges
1) Heat the oben to 180C / 160C fan / gas 4. Grease and line teo 20cm cake tins with baking parchment.
2) Put the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and 1 tsp salt in a bowl and mix well. If there are any lumps, press them against the side of the bowl or squeeze them with your fingers.
3) Measure the buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla in a jug. Add the egg and whisk until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the try and whisk until well combined.
4)Pour the cake mixture evenly into the two tins and bake for 25-30 minutes until risen and the skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
5) Cool the tins for 10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack, peel off he baking parchment and leave to cool.
Chocolate Mousse Filling
1) In a small bowl, dissolve the cocoa powder and instant espresso powder in hot water.
2) In a glass or metal bowl on top of a pan of hot water, melt the chocolate until smooth. Remove from the head and cool slightly.
3) In a large bowl whisk the double cream with the icing sugar until hard, stiff peaks form. Make sure not to over whisk or the next step will result in lumpy, flat mousse.
4) Stir in the cocoa mixture and Nutella into the melted chocolate. Add half of the whipped cream and mix everything together with a folding motion. Fold in the remaining whipped cream and mix well until no white streaks remain. Refrigerate until the cake has cooled completely.
Assembling the Cake
1) Slice the cakes horizontally into two equal layers. If the surface of the cake is not entirely flat, cut off the 'hump' as well.
2) Layer the cake with sponge and your chocolate mousse. try not to be too generous with the mousse otherwise it seeps out of the sides and our cake will slide - I learnt this the hard way!
3) Refrigerate your cake while you prepare your ganache.
Chocolate Ganache
1) In a small saucepan, bring the double cream to a simmer but do not let it boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate pieces and let it sit for 2 minutes. Then, mix well until smooth.
TIP: You can add a tablespoon of butter for extra shine.
2) Wait for the ganache to thicken to your desired consistency and pour / spread onto the cake. You can pour it on when it is still runny to create a glaze, or wait until it is cool and thick to spread it like frosting.
Decoration
1) Melt 100g of your choice of chocolate and spread evenly onto the back of a baking tray.
2) Leave the chocolate to cool until it is almost set (enough to leave a trace of a fingerprint when pressed). If the shavings are too hard, they will break.
3) Use a palette knife or normal knife and push the tray towards your body to stop it moving. Then, push the knife at a 45 degree angle towards you. A helpful video can be found here.
4) Place the chocolate curls in a plate of cocoa powder and roll them around. Place these on baking parchment on another plate and then put them in the fridge to set.
5) Once the chocolate curls have set, place them on top of the cake and add the frozen blackberries on top of the cake.
TIP: By freezing the blackberries, you stop the juices running over the cake.
Credit to:
