Easter Chocolate Cake

Happy Easter

It's hard to believe that Easter has arrived already.

It only seems as though we have 
just recovered from the 
post Christmas blues.

The gardens are starting to spring into life,

so I guess Spring really is here.

The snow drops have been out for a little while. 

Such delicate white flowers 
that never fail to make me smile.

Daffodils and Crocus's are 
peeping their petals out into the sunshine too.

I always make a chocolate cake at this time of year,

because of course, 
there is just not enough 
chocolate in the house already.

I have been tweaking this recipe 
for a little while and 
I'm finally happy with the results.

In fairness, 
anything I experiment with 
will get gobbled up without much complaint.

With two young children and a husband 
in the house there is no
shortage of good quality controllers.

The very rich and decadent 
ganache covering on this cake 
will help to keep it beautifully moist too.

You will need :

for the cake - 
50g cocoa powder
100g dark brown sugar
250ml boiling water
125g soft unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
225g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs

for the ganache -
125ml water
30g dark brown sugar
175g unsalted butter
300g dark chocolate, broken into pieces.

1. This may seem a little bit backwards, 

but I make this first before I start the cake.

It takes a few hours to thicken up enough 

to put onto the cake so it's best to 

get this part out of the way first.

Put the water, dark brown sugar and butter 

into a pan and heat over a low heat 

until everything has melted and 

the liquid starts to bubble slightly. 

Take off the heat and add 

the broken up chocolate.

Allow to melt for a minute or two 

and then whisk until a lovely, 

smooth, and glossy texture.

Leave to stand until it thickens up, 

which will probably take 2-3 hrs. 

I give it the occasional stir

to check on the consistency.

2. Now for the cake.

Preheat the oven to 180c / gas mark 4

3. Grease and line two 8 inch sandwich cake tins

4. Put the cocoa, dark brown sugar, 

and boiling water into a heat proof jug 

and stir until everything starts to dissolve. 

Set aside until a little later.

5. Cream the butter and caster sugar 

together until pale and fluffy.

6. Add the vanilla extract into 

the creamed butter and 

continue to beat until combined.

7. Add 1 egg and quickly 

add a spoon full of flour 

to stop the mixture from curdling. 

Add the second egg and 

mix until well combined.

8. Add the rest if the dry ingredients 

and mix until everything is incorporated.

9. Finally, slowly pour in the 

cocoa mixture you made earlier. 

Mix thoroughly and then divide 

equally into the two cake tins.

10. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-20 mins, 

or until a cake tester comes out clean. 

Leave on a wire rack to cool for 10mins before turning out of the tins to cool completely.

11. To decorate, spread a third of the ganache onto the base cake, sandwich together with the other cake,

and spread the remaining ganache 

over the top and sides until completely covered.

Decorate with whatever takes your fancy,

I chose mini eggs but they will not last very long.

This is such an easy,

but delicious cake and 

can be used for so many different occasions,

or just when you really need chocolate cake.

Until next time, 

enjoy your day.