When it comes to birthday cakes, chocolate cakes are an always-welcomed classic. A simple, one bowl cake, made with ingredients that most already have in their cupboards. Very uncomplicated to make, no electric mixer required, and done within a few hours. Seven layers of pure chocolate.
This chocolate cake, as many other cakes of mine, can very easily be made vegan – by using vegan butter, beet sugar, almond yoghurt, and coconut cream. It is very squidgy, deeply chocolate, and fantastic when slightly frozen. When paired with a cup of hot coffee, it almost melts on each bite.
Ingredients
For the chocolate mud cake
180 grams butter
150 grams dark cooking chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
150 ml water
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
150 grams granulated sugar
75 grams vanilla yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
200 grams plain flour
15 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
For the ganache filling
250 grams cooking chocolate (50% cocoa solids)
250 ml double cream
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Preparation
To make the cake layers, take a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom, and add in the butter, chocolate, water, sugar, and espresso powder. Place the saucepan on medium heat, and gently stir until everything is fully melted. Remove it from the heat, mix in the vanilla, and let it cool down slightly. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder.
Add the yoghurt to the slightly cooled chocolate mixture, mix briefly, and then tip in the dry ingredients. Gently whisk until only incorporated. Take a rectangular cake tin (20x30 cm), and line it with baking parchment. Bake immediately in a preheated oven, at 180°C, for about 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the very centre comes out clean. Let the cake cool down to room temperature, and then place it in the refrigerator for about an hour, to make it easier to slice and stack.
To make the chocolate ganache, roughly chop the chocolate and place it in a large bowl. Heat up the double cream until it starts giving off wisps of steam, and then quickly pour it over the chocolate. Gently stir until all of the chocolate is melted, add in the vanilla, and then let it sit at room temperature for an hour or so, until thickened up.
Take the chilled cake out of the refrigerator, level it if necessary, and slice it in half both horizontally and vertically, to have four thin layers. Divide the filling into four equal parts by weight. Place one of the layers on the cake platter, and spread evenly one fourth of the filling. Keep stacking the cake layers and the filling until the very last layer, and then cover the whole cake in the remaining ganache. Place the cake in the refrigerator for at least four hours, preferably eight. Serve in thin slices, with strong coffee. Yields 12 servings.
