The Ultimate Chocolate Cake

They say, “There’s no such thing that a chocolate cake can’t solve.”

Well, its pretty much true.

I’ve tried and tested this saying about Chocolate Cake time and again. And it goes on to prove itself every single time. And if you know what I mean, then you have hit the right place for the ultimate chocolate solution.Because not only am I going to teach you how to make an easy and decadent chocolate cake, but I’m going to teach you the simplest Rich Chocolate Ganache to frost this cake and some options to make it fancy if you want to make it fancy that is.

What You Will Need:

For the Cake

Butter – 100 gms (room temperature)

Castor sugar – 1 and 3/4 cups (good old powdered sugar or brown sugar works just as good!!)

Eggs – 2

Flour – 1 and 3/4 cups

Cocoa Powder – 1/2 cup

Baking powder – 1.5 tsp

Vanilla – 2 tsp

Milk – 1 cup

For the Frosting/ Icing:

Chocolate Ganache

How To Make It:

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease and line an 8 inch round or 7 inch square baking tin.

Cream the butter and sugar together for about two minutes or till you see that the sugar is completely mixed in and the mixture is creamy, fluffy and pale.

Add in the eggs and vanilla and beat again for half a minute.

Now, sift in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together in three batches. Alternate the flour mixture with milk so that means add a third of the flour mixture, fold it through and then add a third of the milk mixture and mix well. Repeat this till all the flour mixture and milk is all incorporated. This is the batter you are looking for…. oh God! doesn’t it look so rich already? Good enough to lick up the whole bowl.

Tip this batter into the baking tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Once done, take out the cake, cover the baking tin with a thick towel and leave it on a wire rack to cool down completely.

At this point the chocolate cake is ready. But if you are looking at filling and frosting it with a rich beautiful chocolate ganache, read ahead!!!

Making The Ganache: (learn all about how to make and use Chocolate Ganache here)

Frosting or Icing The Cake:

Make sure the cake is chilled for many hours (best overnight) and the ganache is also made and kept for at least 2-3 hours before you start frosting.

Start by slicing the chilled cake. I like to have the slices to be between 1 and 2 cms thick. Anything less than that is not my style. But it’s up to you how thick or thin you want your slices to be.

At this point you could use a simple sugar syrup to soak the slices if you feel the cake is not moist enough. To make this syrup just dissolve 1.5 tbsp sugar in 200 mls of milk or water. You may add a flavor if you want to. I use orange juice too.

Then slather the slice with Ganache and spread it evenly. Cover with another slice of the cake.

Keep soaking and ganaching the slices till you have stacked them all.      

Once the entire cake is covered in thick ganache, you can smoothen it up by dipping a spatula in hot water and running it all over the ganache (which by now would have started to set firm). Refer to this short video (shot during one of my Workshops to understand this).

Watch Video

Once you have a smooth base, you can either leave it as it or adorn it in any number of ways you want. I’ve shown some examples here but remember there’s not limit to the possibilities. Please do share with me how you chose you finish your decoration.

Decorate with Pretzels

This is not only an innovative take at decorating a sweet cake but this combination of crisp salty pretzels tastes so good with the chocolate cake. Its definitely worth a try.

Decorate With Chocolate Buttons

Need I say more?

Decorate With Red Sugar Hearts

These cute bright red sugar hearts will instantaneously transform your simple chocolate cake into one perfect for an Anniversary celebration or Valentine’s Day or just a romantic surprise for your sweetheart.

Pile Chocolate Truffles on top:

Like I did here. I made Chocolate truffles (or chocolate Balls), dipped them in Dark, Milk and White Chocolates and piled them on top of a cake that was covered with a Ganache glaze.

Top with Fresh Berries or Fresh Fruit:

This is one of my favorite ways to top a Rich Chocolate Cake because the berries/ fruit add freshness and cut through the super richness of the chocolate cake paired with the ganache.

Decorate With Fondant Accents:

Like I did here for the birthday party of a child who loved Paw Patrol.

Add Coloured Frosting:

In this one, I just added a dash of bright orange buttercream with Orange-flavored ganache and loaded white and dark chocolate chips.

Phew!! I’m sure you get the idea. And the idea is, like I always say, there are no rules here. Let your imagination go wild and have fun with it!! All the best!!

So what are you waiting for? Grab your prettiest apron and a whisk, put on your favorite song and start creating the magic!! Do share your experience of this post and recipe and your views and opinions! I would love to hear them!!

I’m waiting to hear from you all how you decorated your Chocolate Truffle cake!!!