Baker's Corner: Fudgy Chocolate Cake

The introduction to this post is going to be (kinda) short and sweet 😊 The National Day long weekend is on the horizon and I have a bunch of plans that I want to execute and blogging does not happen to be one of them.

It was my FILs birthday last week. We went shopping on Orchard road and then enjoyed a lovely family meal at Tandoor located within Holiday Inn. I still wanted to bake him a cake because age notwithstanding, who doesn't like having cake baked especially for them right? 😜

I asked the twins what cake I should bake for their beloved ajja (grandfather) and pat came the reply “Chocolate and Raspberry Cake”. Chocolate is the little ones favourite flavour (ties for first place with strawberry) and raspberries are one among their favourite fruit so I wasn't the least bit surprised.

I was looking for a cake recipe that was simple, had easily available ingredients and that would result in a really moist cake. This recipe checks all the boxes and how. This is an oil-based cake so how you go about it is you mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together in another medium bowl, mix the wet ingredients into the dry and BAM! Cake batter done. No sieving of dry ingredients, creaming of sugar and butter or any of that fiddly stuff.

The cake turned out moist, fudgy and chocolatey. The addition of a little brewed coffee enhanced the chocolate favour. The only gripe I had with the finished product was that the cake was a tad too sweet for my liking (the others thought it was just right though) so I fine-tuned the recipe and it should be perfect now. Since this is a blended cake, the sugar is not required to build volume so it can be reduced with no significant change in outcome of the texture. Follow the recipe below and you should be fine. I suggest you take a look at the notes section at the bottom of the recipe before starting for some tips, tricks and suggestions so you will be guaranteed to get a good outcome for this cake.

 That's it folks. Make this cake the next time you have a loved one's birthday or for a special occasion and you will be glad you did.

Update: I have made this cake innumerable times since this post and it works perfectly for me every time. I have tweaked the recipe quantity to make 12 cupcakes and a smaller 6-inch cake. Please refer to notes at the bottom for more details. 

Happy birthday Daddy (to my husband), mava (to me) and ajja (to the kids). We love you loads 💗

Fudgy Chocolate Cake

Prep time: 40 min; Cook time: 30 min

Total Time: ~1 hour 15 min

Yield: 12-14 Slices; Serves: 8 

Recipe category: Dessert/American

Recipe level: Moderate

Recipe source: Adapted from here

Ingredients:

For the chocolate cake:

1 3/4 cups (228 g) all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups (300 g) white granulated sugar

3/4 cup (85 g) natural unsweetened cocoa

2 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup (240 ml) milk

1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp brewed coffee, Optional but recommended

2 large eggs

1 cup (240 ml) hot water

For the chocolate frosting:

1 1/2 cups (336 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups (12 oz) semi sweet chocolate chips, melted

5 tbsp (35 g) unsweetened cocoa powder

6 cups (690 g) icing sugar

1/2 tsp salt

10–12 tbsp (150-180 ml) heavy whipping cream

For decoration:

A handful of fresh raspberries

Semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate sprinkles

Method:

For the chocolate cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and prepare three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick baking spray and parchment paper at the bottom. I used disposable aluminum pans and just greased them with butter.

2. Add the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt to a large mixing bowl and combine. Set aside.

3. Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, brewed coffee and eggs to a medium sized bowl and combine.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.

5. Slowly add the hot water to the batter and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined. Note that this cake batter is quite thin so don't be alarmed.

6. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.

7. Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

For the chocolate frosting:

1. Add the butter to a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth

2. Add the melted chocolate and mix until well combined

3. Add the cocoa powder and mix until well combined

4. Add about half of the powdered sugar, salt and half of the heavy cream and mix until well combined

5. Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth

6. Add the remaining heavy cream as needed to get the right consistency of frosting

To decorate the cake:

1. First use a large serrated knife to remove the domes from the tops of the cakes so they are all flat

2. Put a dab of frosting on the serving plate or cardboard cake circle. Place the first cake layer on it

3. Spread a generous amount of chocolate frosting on top of the cake in a uniform manner

4. Add the second layer of cake, then repeat the frosting step

5. Add the third and final layer of cake on top

6. Frost the top and outside of the cake with the remaining chocolate frosting

7. Pipe swirls with the remaining chocolate frosting around the top of the cake (using any nozzle and in any design you like. I used my trusty Wilton 1M tip), then decorate with raspberries and chocolate chips or sprinkles

8. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve. The cake is best when served at room temperature and holds up well for 4-5 days when well sealed in an air-tight container


Notes:

• I suggest you don’t use springform tins for this cake as the batter is very thin
• Make sure your oven is at the right temperature
• Do not over bake the cake (a few moist crumbs on the skewer is a good indication for doneness)
• Wait till the cakes have cooled down completely before frosting (preferably refrigerate them until nicely cold)
• Slice off the domed top of the cakes to make sure you get a nice flat surface to work with
• Even if it seems that the amount of icing sugar in the frosting is too much, it actually isn’t. You need that much for the frosting to hold its shape when piping so don’t be tempted to skimp on the icing sugar
• Make sure the whipping cream is chilled before use
• If you have extra frosting don't fret. You can use it to make cake pops or else store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Before using, thaw overnight in the fridge and for sometime on the counter (at room temperature) and re-whip till the perfect consistency is reached. 
• The same cake recipe could be used to make cupcakes. It would make exactly 24 cupcakes. The batter will rise quite a bit so fill the cupcake liners to about 1/2 to 2/3rds full. The baking time for the cupcakes would be 16-20 min. But keep in mind that the quantity of frosting mentioned in this recipe would be too much for 24 cupcakes so you would need to halve the quantity of frosting by halving all the ingredients. 

• You can use strawberries, blackberries or fresh/canned cherries instead of raspberries for decoration or you can also use chocolate vermicelli or any kind of sprinkles

• You can halve the cake recipe and make one 6-inch cake. If you pour all of the batter into only 1 baking tin, the baking time would be around 30 min or slightly more. I have done this and it works pretty well

Have you tried this recipe? If yes, leave a comment to let me know how it turned out. 

Cheers,
Megha