Ugly Chocolate Cake

For my brother’s birthday this year, I baked a chocolate cake for him. It’s a very belated cake, as I was preoccupied with exams and weren’t home often. Without the ganache, the cake looked not-as-appetising but don’t be deceived! The cake tasted better than it looked: it’s eggy, light, fudgey and moussey. This was due to the lack of flour in the batter. The cake shrank so nicely in the center that it provided a well for the ganache to happily “live” in it, but then again, the ganache didn’t “live” for long as it went all down his stomach.

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Ugly Chocolate Cake

Servings: 8 servings

0.511.523

INGREDIENTS

 

Cake

• ▢ 60 g unsalted butter, cubed, plus extra to grease
• ▢ 100 g dark chocolate, minimum 65% cocoa, chopped
• ▢ 4 eggs, separated
• ▢ 100 g golden caster sugar

Chocolate Ganache

• ▢ 50 g semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• ▢ 33 ml cream, minimum 30% fat content
• ▢ 12 g unsalted butter
• ▢ 1 pinch salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Cake

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 7-inch spring-form cake tin/cake tin with removable bottom.
• Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
• Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale, thick and mousse-like, then whisk in the chocolate mixture.
• Whisk the egg whites separately in a clean, grease-free bowl until soft peaks form. add a third to the chocolate mixture and fold in, using either a large metal spoon or spatula. add the remaining whisked egg whites and fold in carefully.
• immediately pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. turn off the oven. Cover the cake with a damp tea-towel and leave to cool in the oven; do not be shocked by the sinking of the centre. It will sink as it cools.

Chocolate Ganache

• Combine the chocolate, cream, butter and salt in a bowl and melt them in a double boiler or set over a pan of simmering water.

Assembly

• Remove the cake out of the tin and peel off the lining paper. Place it on a serving plate then ladle the ganache over the cake, making some of the ganache to drizzle down the sides as well.
• Let the ganache set slightly, decorate with chocolate curls on top of the cake to serve.

NOTES

Recipe adapted from Good Housekeeping – Chocolate

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