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Recipe by Angela Nilsen

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1. Video tutorial: Lining a cake tin

1. Butter a 20cm round cake tin (7.5cm deep) and line the base. Preheat the oven to fan 140C/conventional 160C/ gas 3. Break the chocolate in pieces into a medium, heavy-based pan. Tip in the butter, then mix the coffee granules into 125ml/4fl oz cold water and pour into the pan. Warm through over a low heat just until everything is melted - don't overheat. Or melt in the microwave on Medium for about 5 minutes, stirring half way through.
2. While the chocolate is melting, mix the two flours, bicarbonate of soda, sugars and cocoa in a big bowl, mixing with your hands to get rid of any lumps. Beat the eggs in a bowl and stir in the buttermilk.
3. Now pour the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until everything is well blended and you have a smooth, quite runny consistency. Pour this into the tin and bake for 1 hour 25- 1 hour 30 minutes - if you push a skewer in the centre it should come out clean and the top should feel firm (don't worry if it cracks a bit). Leave to cool in the tin (don't worry if it dips slightly), then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. When the cake is cold, cut it horizontally into three. Make the ganache: chop the chocolate into small pieces and tip into a bowl. Pour the cream into a pan, add the sugar, and heat until it is about to boil. Take off the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
5. Sandwich the layers together with just a little of the ganache. Pour the rest over the cake letting it fall down the sides and smoothing to cover with a palette knife. Decorate with grated chocolate or a pile of chocolate curls. The cake keeps moist and gooey for 3-4 days.

541 kcalories, protein 6g, carbohydrate 55g, fat 35 g, saturated fat 20g, fibre 2g, salt 0.51 g

Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-40

• Lindac

  20 January 2008

  Lindac rated and commented on this recipe

  

  This is THE best chocolate cake I have ever made. Just perfect as it is.

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• Sam

  26 January 2008

  Sam commented on this recipe

  Fantastic cake and so easy to make. I could not get Buttermilk, so used natural yogurt instead. It turned out brilliant. I only cut it in two also.

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• ali

  03 February 2008

  ali commented on this recipe

  Great chocolate cake, much appreciated by all at our open house. Made it with yogurt instead of buttermilk and a readers suggestion of 300g instead of 400g sugar, and found this was plenty sweet enough.

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• smokey67

  05 February 2008

  smokey67 rated and commented on this recipe

  

  great cake and easy to make, everyone who tried it thought i bought it. will be makin again

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• MrsO

  05 February 2008

  MrsO rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Moist, rich, a true indulgence that's worth very calorie and gram of fat. Surpisingly easy to make.

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• Jim

  08 February 2008

  Jim commented on this recipe

  I would like to bulk this cake up to a 30cm tin, can anyone advise on how to do this.

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• Katherine

  08 February 2008

  Katherine commented on this recipe

  To make in 30cm tin, I'd suggest you need to make 2.25 x quantities as you want to make a cake with 1.5 times the diameterof the original. But we are talking two dimensions so you need to do 1.5x1.5=2.25. BUT I find that this cake is a bit big for the tin so 2x should do it; so just double everything - nice and easy. That should then fit t in 7.5 cm hjgh as the recipe says. It might take a while to cook in the middle. I find that this cake does burn ontop if you don't cover with foil towards the end so do that.

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• Sarah

  11 February 2008

  Sarah rated and commented on this recipe

  

  this is just the best choc cake ever,i used to make nigellas one which used a million bowls and this is way better and easier. I also made it for a friends wedding cake,it looked rustic but tasted amazing,i even saw someone putting a slice in their handbag!!!

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• lucyboo

  11 February 2008

  lucyboo commented on this recipe

  mazing. the only choclate cake i will make from now on. my 20 cm tin was not deep enough so i used two shallower ones, and froze one of the cakes for later (i halved the ganache but had plentyleft over). so dark, squidgy, moist, chocolatey -- truly ultimate!

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• Allycat

  13 February 2008

  Allycat rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Amazing recipe, made this for my boyfriends birthday and it went down a treat. Cost a fortune buying in the ingredients, but truly enjoyed making it and eating the fruits of my labour! I mixed the choc to half milk (38%) and half dark (85%) as i'm not one for the tartness of full on dark chocolate, and it turned out a treat. This is my first cake making experience and it turned out perfect despite being a beginner. DEFINITELY recommend this for a special occasion - I enjoyed decorating with an array of chocolate bits and bobs. Satisfying and scrumptuous - I'm doing it again for a Valentine's treat!

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• Sally

  14 February 2008

  Sally commented on this recipe

  Fantastic cake, will definately make it again.

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• Sally

  14 February 2008

  Sally rated this recipe

  

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• Alice's grub

  01 March 2008

  Alice's grub commented on this recipe

  My son is just about to make this cake for mother's day. How much bicarbonate of soda should be add - the recipe doesn't say.

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• Alice's grub

  01 March 2008

  Alice's grub rated and commented on this recipe

  

  My son is just about to make this cake for mother's day. How much bicarbonate of soda should be add - the recipe doesn't say. Have rated the recipe 5 stars in mouth-watering anticipation but need a speedy reply on the bicarb!

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• Claire

  05 March 2008

  Claire commented on this recipe

  Did anyone find out how much bicarbinate to use? I'm going to try this recipie next week! Yum.

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• Alice's grub

  05 March 2008

  Alice's grub commented on this recipe

  The mother's day cake was a triumph! If you like chocolate you'll love it. Tom and l decided to put in half a tsp of bicarb in and it seem to work fine. We also took the advice of covering the top after about 40 minutes to prevent burning. Because there was so much dark chocolate in the cake Tom went for galaxy curls on top. Chocolate was at room temp and grated down the side of the bar with a potato peeler. Think this cake could become a family favourite and l could become the size of a bus.....

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• Alice's grub

  05 March 2008

  Alice's grub commented on this recipe

  stop press*just noticed the recipe has been updated and says 1/4 tsp of bicarb.

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• Claire

  06 March 2008

  Claire commented on this recipe

  Brilliant, glad you all enjoyed it. I'm going to try it on Monday for my boyfriend's birthday. He likes chocolate more than me so I'm sure it'll go down well!

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• sallysue

  15 March 2008

  sallysue rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Did this cake for my daughters birthday party, did 3/4 dark chocolate and 1/4 Lindt Milk Chocolate for the ganache, also did'nt cut each sandwich in half. Not that brave!! Turned out perfect, the addition of milk chocoalte just took the edge off the dark chocolate which children can find too strong/bitter. Will be doing this cake again for Easter, fabulous recipe far better than any thing you can buy.

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• GraceW

  17 March 2008

  GraceW rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I did this for my husband's birthday as well and it was a huge success. My friend, who got married the week before said that I should have made his wedding cake because the quality of this cake was so much better than the one he had. That is praise indeed. I did cut down the sugar to 350g and that was just right.

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Ingredients

• 200g good quality dark chocolate , about 60% cocoa solids
• 200g butter , cut in pieces
• 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
• 85g self-raising flour
• 85g plain flour
• 1⁄4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 200g light muscovado sugar
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 25g cocoa powder
• 3 medium eggs
• 75ml buttermilk (5 tbsp)
• grated chocolate or curls, to decorate

FOR THE GANACHE

• 200g good-quality dark chocolate , as above
• 284ml carton double cream (pouring type)
• 2 tbsp golden caster sugar

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Difficulty and servings

Cuts into 14 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 30 40 mins

Cook 1 hr min 1 hr 30 mins

Plus baking and cooling time

Without icing

Ingredients

• 200g good quality dark chocolate , about 60% cocoa solids
• 200g butter , cut in pieces
• 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
• 85g self-raising flour
• 85g plain flour
• 1⁄4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 200g light muscovado sugar
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 25g cocoa powder
• 3 medium eggs
• 75ml buttermilk (5 tbsp)
• grated chocolate or curls, to decorate

FOR THE GANACHE

• 200g good-quality dark chocolate , as above
• 284ml carton double cream (pouring type)
• 2 tbsp golden caster sugar

541 kcalories, protein 6g, carbohydrate 55g, fat 35 g, saturated fat 20g, fibre 2g, salt 0.51 g

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