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Indulgent Dark Chocolate Cake

Published: Updated:
Quick and easy

5 Reviews

Total Time
1h 20m
Prep Time
45m
Bake Time
35m
Serves 16
Serves 16
intermediate
A little effort

About the bake

Our indulgent dark chocolate cake is the perfect cake of choice for any occasion. This triple-layered cake has beautifully soft chocolate sponges sandwiched together and topped with a rich velvety ganache.

To turn this into an Easter show stopper why not top with gold-coated chocolate eggs to wow your guests.

Find out below how to make our delicious dark chocolate cake and if you love all things chocolate we think you'll love our chocolate cupcakes.

16 ingredients8 steps
  • Nut Free

Method

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 180°C  (160°C fan / gas mark 4). Grease 3 x 18cm sandwich tins and base line with baking parchment.

  2. Step 2

    Sift together the flours, bicarbonate of soda and the cocoa powder into a large bowl. Stir in the dark muscovado sugar, breaking down any sugar clumps until evenly combined.

  3. Step 3

    In a small pan set over a very low heat gently combine together the chocolate and butter with 145ml of water. Stir continuously and heat just until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

  4. Step 4

    Add the melted chocolate mixture, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix well to a combined and smooth batter. Divide the batter evenly between the 3 prepared tins and place into the oven.

  5. Step 5

    Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins before turning out onto a wire rack.

  6. Step 6

    To prepare the ganache;  gently heat the double cream and dark muscovado sugar in a pan, until the cream looks like it is starting to come to the boil. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Mix well together until the chocolate has all melted and stir in the golden syrup. Leave to cool at room temperature so it thickens slightly.

  7. Step 7

    Once the cakes have cooled sandwich together with a thin layer of ganache and smooth the rest over the top and sides of the cake until completely covered.

  8. Step 8

    For the decoration, lightly dust the chocolate eggs with gold lustre using a small decorating brush then position on your cake for decoration.

Ingredients

  • For the Sponge

    • 125gAllinson's Self Raising Flour 
    • 125gAllinson's Plain White Flour 
    • 1/2 tspBicarbonate of soda 
    • 40gCocoa powder 
    • 425gBillington's Unrefined Dark Muscovado Sugar 
    • 240gDark chocolate (broken into small pieces) 
    • 240gUnsalted butter (softened) 
    • 4Medium free range eggs (beaten) 
    • 95mlButtermilk 
    • 2 tspNielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract 
  • For the Ganache

    • 200gDark chocolate (broken into small pieces) 
    • 250mlDouble cream 
    • 1 tbspBillington's Unrefined Dark Muscovado Sugar 
    • 1 tbspSilver Spoon Golden Syrup 
  • For the Decoration

    • 20Mini chocolate eggs 
    • 1 potGold lustre 

Utensils

  • 3 x 18cm sandwich tins
  • Small saucepan
  • Sieve
  • Medium saucepan
  • Spatula

Nutritional information per 115g serving

  • Energy 545cal
  • Fat 32g
  • of which Saturates 19g
  • Carbohydrates 56g
  • of which Sugars 44g
  • Protein 6.3g
  • Salt 0.32g

5 Baker Ratings

it was disgusting the chocolate wouldn’t melt and the sponge was horrible

Love this?

Love this chocolate and makes a great base for decorating as a birthday cake.

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