Super Duper Chocolate Cake

A few years ago, Y gave me an amazing desserts cookbook. I asked him to pick something for me to make since I couldn't make up my mind of what to try first. He picked the Chocolate Truffle Cake. It's amazing, but it's also a lot of work. After making it the first time, I decided I'd never do it again. But, seeing how much he loved it has made me make it over and over again - but only for very special occasions.

The cake is delicious with layers of spongy chocolate cake surrounded by the creamiest ganache imaginable. The cake is super chocolatey. When I was about 7 months preggers with K, I made the cake for our anniversary and if I ate a piece too close to bedtime, I couldn't sleep - K would bounce off the walls of my tummy keeping me awake. I have no idea if that connection is even possible, but I swear every time I had a piece, it was like an octopus was in my stomach for hours on end.





Without further ado, here is the recipe (adapted from Donna Hay's "Modern Classics Book 2").

Super Duper Chocolate Cake

Cake:
1/2 c flour
2 tbls cocoa powder
1/3 c sugar
4 eggs
80g melted butter

Truffle Filling:
300g dark chocolate
1 1/3 c cream
4 egg yolks
1/4 c sugar

Cake:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Whisk the flour and cocoa together and set aside. Place the sugar and eggs in a bowl and beat with a mixer for 8 minutes. It should be pale and thick and the volume will have increased. Fold the flour and cocoa through the eggs, then fold in the butter. Take the bottom out of a 20cm round cake pan and line it with non-stick baking paper. Pour in the mixture and bake for 30 minutes or until the cake is done. The edges should come away from the sides of the tin. If not use a palette knife to go around the edges and slightly push the cake towards the center. Cool in the tin.

Filling:
While the cake is cooking, make a ganache by placing the chocolate and cream in a saucepan over low heat and stirring until melted and smooth. Place the egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and beat for 6 minutes. It should get thick and creamy. If possible, use a candy thermometer to ensure the mixture reaches 70C. Fold the ganache through the egg mixture and beat for six minutes or until cool. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Assembly:
Remove the cake from the tin and cut in half horizontally. Wash the outside part of the pan Put the bottom layer back in the tin and pour in half of the filling. Give the pan a little shake or tap it on the counter a few times to ensure the filling goes down the sides. Place the top layer on the cake and cover with the remaining filling, again give it a few shakes or taps. Refrigerate for 5 hours or until set.

To serve, wet a towel with hot water and rub it against the outside of the pan. Do this several times until the filling starts to melt and you can push the cake up and out of the tin. Warm a palette knife under hot water, quickly dry it off and rub it over the edge to smooth it out a bit. Warm a knife under hot water, dry it off and cut. Do this for each cut you make.

Yum.


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