I'm always on the lookout for the ‘Ultimate’ chocolate cake recipe but how ever many I try, I always seem to come back to my tried and tested recipe which is scribbled on a greasy an old post-it note and kept in my sacred receipt folder. So I think it’s time to spill the beans on my never fail (so far), simple chocolate fudge cake recipe.
In my opinion, a chocolate cake needs to be simple to make, moist, sweet but not over sickly and have a yummy complementary icing or frosting.
Firstly the equipment, the best investment for any cake maker has to be a high speed food mixer that can beat in air quickly and make your sponge light and fluffy. So, sorry for all the wooden spoon mixers out there, but just relish in the thought you have better arm muscles.
So here we go…
Recipe
6oz/170g Self raising flour
1tspoon Baking powder
8oz/225g Castor sugar
8oz/225g Butter
3 Eggs
2oz/55g Ground almonds
3 Tbls Cocoa powder mixed with enough warm water to make a thick paste
Icing
8oz/225g Icing sugar
2 Tbls Cocoa powder
2oz/55g Butter
1 Tbls Milk
Method
1. Set oven to 160 degrees
2. Line the bottom of a 7 or 8 inch non stick round cake tin and grease the sides
3. Place all the cake ingredients in the mixer and mix/beat at high speed (slow to start or you’ll get covered) until light and fluffy – that’s it
4. Pour in tin and level the mixture
5. Place in middle of the oven and cook for 1-1 ½ hours. If you notice the cake is cooking well on the top but still runny in the centre, just lightly place a piece of foil over the top of the tin to prevent overcooking the top
6. It’s cooked as soon as a skewer placed through the cake comes out without being coated in cake mixture. Try not to over cook.
7. Once cooked, leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn upside-down on a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cake is completely cool it can be cut in half. Place the bottom tier on a serving plate (the flat original bottom of your cake will be the top tier so you have a nice flat surface to ice.
Icing
1. Place a large heat proof bowl containing all the icing ingredients over a saucepan of boiling water and stir until combined ensuring no water from the saucepan bubbles into the icing. Just remove from heat if it starts to boil over.
(The icing can be made in the microwave if you prefer but you need to be very careful not to burn any of the ingredients).
2. The icing should become glossy and will thicken as it cools. (If it's too thick then you can add a little milk).
3. As it starts to thicken a little, coat the bottom layer of the cake then place the top sponge on top.
4. Before pouring the icing over the top it needs to be a consistency that will just about flow down the sides with a little help, it will thicken in the bowl so be patient or all the icing will run off the cake if it’s not thick enough.
5. Decorate with anything you want, maybe raspberries or crumbled flake or both! Just keep it simple
I must say, it’s really is a chore to have to eat all this food I need to make and photograph for this blog.
Let me know if you have a favourite chocolate cake recipe.
Love Linda x
