Ultimate chocolate cake

Ultimate chocolate cake

Indulge yourself with Angela Nilsen's heavenly moist and fudgy chocolate cake - perfect for celebrations - birthdays, weddings, christenings - any excuse!

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Cuts into 14 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 - 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr - 1 hr 30 mins

Plus baking and cooling time
Freezable

Without icing

Method

  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 200g good quality dark chocolate in pieces into a medium, heavy-based pan. Cut 200g butter into pieces and tip in with the chocolate, then mix 1 tbsp instant coffee granules into 125ml 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 85g self-raising flour, 85g plain flour, ¼ bicarbonate of soda, 200g light muscovado sugar, 200g golden caster sugar and 25g cocoa powder in a big bowl, mixing with your hands to get rid of any lumps. Beat 3 medium eggs in a bowl and stir in 75ml (5 tbsp) 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 200g good quality dark chocolate into small pieces and tip into a bowl. Pour a 284ml carton of double cream into a pan, add 2 tbsp golden caster 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.
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541 kcalories, protein 6g, carbohydrate 55g, fat 35 g, saturated fat 20g, fibre 2g, sugar 40g, salt 0.51 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2004.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-40

  • Binder photo Lindac

    20 January 2008

    Lindac rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

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

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  • Binder photo 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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  • Binder photo 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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  • Binder photo smokey67

    05 February 2008

    smokey67 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

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

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  • Binder photo MrsO

    05 February 2008

    MrsO rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

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

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  • Binder photo 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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  • Binder photo 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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  • Binder photo Sarah

    11 February 2008

    Sarah rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    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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  • Binder photo 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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  • Binder photo Allycat

    13 February 2008

    Allycat rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    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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  • Binder photo Sally

    14 February 2008

    Sally commented on this recipe

    Fantastic cake, will definately make it again.

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  • Binder photo Sally

    14 February 2008

    Sally rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo 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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  • Binder photo Alice's grub

    01 March 2008

    Alice's grub rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    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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  • Binder photo 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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  • Binder photo 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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  • Binder photo 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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  • Binder photo 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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  • Binder photo sallysue

    15 March 2008

    sallysue rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    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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  • Binder photo GraceW

    17 March 2008

    GraceW rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    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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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Cuts into 14 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 - 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr - 1 hr 30 mins

Plus baking and cooling time
Freezable

Without icing

Ingredients

  • 200g good quality dark chocolate , about 60% cocoa solids
  • 200g butter
  • 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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541 kcalories, protein 6g, carbohydrate 55g, fat 35 g, saturated fat 20g, fibre 2g, sugar 40g, salt 0.51 g

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