I went a bit overboard with this cake… Chocolate cake with butter cream & ganache! There’s a reason… it’s our wedding anniversary :) Baking a cake is not part of our anniversary tradition. It very much depends on my mood. Anyways, this year I thought I’ll be a bit extravagant with the cake ;) After the cake was done, I was impatiently waiting for Jose to come home from office, so that we could cut it. Got the cake from the fridge, got the knife and was waiting to hear the wonderful things about the cake. Here it comes… “is this cake tilted?” Ohh yes… that’s what he notices first, not the roses, not the hearts but the ’tilting’ of the cake. But then… I was expecting this, after all some things never change ;)
People say marriage is one adventurous journey with both smooth drives and bumpy roads. We’ve also had our share of dramas and ups and downs. At times we drive each other crazy, at times we make each other laugh our hearts out and most importantly we make each other happy! That matters the most to me.
Now about the cake, it tasted great (if I should say so myself). I should say the chance of a moist chocolate cake slathered with butter cream & ganache going wrong, is almost next to impossible. It all tastes good, on their own, so you can imagine how it tastes when it’s put together :) I got the cake recipe from my dearest friend & neighbor Sonia. This cake is super moist, I think my ultra moist chocolate cake has a strong competition now. Thanks a lot Sonia for sharing this wonderful recipe with me. The butter cream recipe is adapted from here. Dont get scared by the length of the recipe, its pretty simple to put together, trust me.
Btw, here is a step by step pictures of making the cake:
- Plain Flour (Maida) – 1¾ cups
- Sugar – 2 cups
- Cocoa powder – ¾ cup
- Baking powder – 1½ tsp
- Baking soda – 1½ tsp
- Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
- Eggs – 2 (room temp)
- Oil – 1 cup (I used sunflower)
- Boiling water – 1 cup
- Milk – 1 cup ( I used room temp)
- Unsalted butter – 1 cup (226 gms), softened
- Icing sugar – 3½ – 4 cups
- Cocoa powder – ½ cup
- Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
- Whole milk/ whipping cream – 4 tbsp
- Whipping/heavy cream – ¼ cup + 2 tbsp
- Chocolate chips – ¾ cup ( you can use baking chocolate also)
- Sugar – ⅓ cup
- Water – ⅓ cup
- Preheat the oven @180 C, 10 mins before baking.
- Mix together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder & baking soda. In a deep vessel, mix together essence, eggs, oil, boiling water & milk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients & mix with a hand whisk or a wooden spoon, till the batter is mixed well.
- Pour into a greased baking tin lined with parchment paper or cupcake tin lined with cupcake liners. Bake in the preheated oven till the tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Baking time is given in the notes.
- Butter Cream Preparation
- Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer. Sift 3 cups powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Ganache Preparation
- Heat the whipping/heavy cream till small bubbles start appearing around the edges. Switch off the gas. Add chocolate chips to the cream & let it rest for 5 mins. After 5 mins, whisk till it becomes smooth.
- Sugar Syrup Preparation
- Mix together water & sugar. Heat it till the sugar dissolves & let it boil. Remove from fire. Let it cool completely.
- Assembling of the cake
- The cake has to be cooled completely before icing. I cut each cake into two layers, to have a four layered cake. Place one of the cut cakes on a cake board & brush it with sugar syrup, make sure the entire cake is brushed. Place some butter cream on top of it & spread using a spatula. Repeat the process till all the layers are used. After the top layer is placed is covered with buttercream, apply the butter cream around the sides as well. Once this is done, keep the cake in the fridge for 20-30 mins. Make the ganache in the meanwhile & let it cool & thicken a bit.
- Take the cake from the fridge & cover it with ganche. Decorate as per your liking. Return the cake to the fridge.
- Keep the cake @ room temp for 20 mins, before serving.
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