Ari is really a BIG chocolate cake lover. Not in stature, but in enthusiasm. And not just any old cake. Dense, rich, moist, chocolatey chocolate cake. He likes the chocolate cake at Mario's and the chocolate cake at Nudel Bar. Fancy lad. I like really good chocolate cake too.
I am going to make a super great (I hope!) chocolate cake this week. We are celebrating... um.. our love of cake. Yes. Do you have a great chocolate cake recipe? Something dense and delicious? Or light and fluffy? Will you share your recipe?! I normally make the Elizabeth David Flourless Chocolate Cake, but we are up for something new!
xx Pip
This one come out nice and moist...
ReplyDelete2 cups SR flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs (I use large eggs)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup vegetable oil (I use melted butter)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Preheat Oven to 150°C (This is a slow bake choc cake recipe)
Lightly grease and flour a 9 x 13 in baking dish (for a one layer chocolate cake)… I have also used a number of smaller round tins (if so, reduce cooking time)
Place all the ingredients into a mixing bowl.
Mix at medium or medium high speed until all ingredients are blended and smooth. (I put everything in except the boiling water and mix, then trickle in the boiling water while mixing)
Pour into greased and floured baking dish
Bake for at least an 1 hr – keep an eye on it and take it out when it springs back on touch and a skewer comes out clean
Hiya Pip!
ReplyDeleteNice to see you.
I make Donna Hay's 'easy choc cake'. It's very yummy and dense: http://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/sweets/cakes/easy-chocolate-cake
I feel like eating lemon tart today :)
My new favorite chocolate cake is:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/easy_chocolate_cake_31070
It is so yummy and quite easy to make :)
This one is easy, moist and light - and it's always turned out fantastically for me so it's my standard chocolate cake (it used to be on the side of the cocoa packet -- I was so sad when they replaced it -- but now it's up on their website, huzzah!)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cadbury.com.au/Cadbury-Kitchen/Teatime-Treats/Moist-Chocolate-Cake.aspx
But I don't use their icing recipe, I use a chocolate buttercream I got out of here
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cupcakes-Primrose-Bakery-Martha-Swift/dp/1856268470
Which goes as follows:
175g dark chocolate, melted
225 unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tbspn semi-skimmed milk at room temperature
1 tspn good-quality vanilla extract
250 icing sugar, sifted
Beat the butter, milk, vanilla and icing sugar until smooth, then add the chocolate and beat again until thick and creamy. If it looks too runny to use just keep beating.
Will concur that the Donna Hay chocolate is heavy and rich and delicious! A little goes a long way so a 22cm round cake will feed several easily.
ReplyDeleteHi Pip,
ReplyDeleteI typed out my amazing recipe but then it didnt work.. hmm i do seem to have problems commenting on your blog now that i think about it..
So I emailed it to you! Hope thats ok?
Candice
i like a good flourless chocolate cake, and my recipe is pretty much yer standard affair, but... BUT: add a dash of grand marnier and some orange zest. BAM.. a new delicious twist.
ReplyDeleteHi Pip,
ReplyDeleteWhy dont you try a pudding instead? They are so delicious and chocolatey, still with cake but then with some delicious sauce too!
Also, where did you get those cute letter cookie cutters from? I saw them in Japan but couldn't fit them in my bag to bring home.
Yum, now I want some chocolate cake!
Lizzy
Nigella's chocolate fudge cake - the best. It's on her website and in "Nigella bites".
ReplyDeletepip, i am happy to help! i've got a stockpile of chocolate cake recipes from fudgy flourless ones, molten ones to light and fluffy ones (with rich chocolate sauces!)
ReplyDeletei have posted one on my blog - it's an espresso chocolate cake that i paired with a spiced chocolate sauce (link below).
if you prefer something else i'm more than happy to share the love!
http://wanderingspice.blogspot.com/2011/01/two-firsts_31.html
I love love love, Julia child's chocolate cake. I found it here: http://www.oprah.com/food/Chocolate-and-Almond-Cake I made this for hubbies 40th and it was sensational, every chocaholic's dream.
ReplyDeleteThe 2 minute chocolate cake from The Golden Wattle Cook book - my Mum must of made hundreds of them. Double it and use a bit less sugar and a bit more milk. Not for special occasions but a great everyday chocolate cake and my favourite one.
ReplyDeleteJill duplex chocolate espresso cake is fabalicious. Might make one this afternoon...
ReplyDeleteA friend shared this recipe with me to put on the blog and it is amazing! Also easy to make which is a bonus!
ReplyDeletehttp://planningwithkids.com/2010/09/05/rich-moist-chocolate-cake-recipe/
Nigella's chocolate guiness cake is a fav in our house. Combines beer, chocolate and cream cheese frosting, pretty perfect we think!
ReplyDeleteIt's in Feast.
The Jamie Oliver Mega Chocolate Fudge cake is super delish!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jamieoliver.com/us/recipes/chocolate-recipes/mega-chocolate-fudge-cake
I've done this one a few times and it's rich and yummy. I got it from Good Taste magazine more than 10 years ago...
ReplyDeleteMUD CAKE
200g butter, chopped
100g dark chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
2 tbs espresso instant coffee powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup castor sugar
3 eggs, at room temp
3/4 cup self-raising flour
Grease a 22cm deep round tin with butter and line base. Preheat oven to 160 degree Celcius.
Combine butter, chocolate, water, cocoa, coffee and vanilla essence in a medium saucepan. Cook, whisking constantly over low heat for 6-8 minutes or until smooth. Remove from heat and stand for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, beat together sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl until pale and creamy. Whisk in the chocolate mixture until well combined. Add the flour and whisk until combined.
Pour mixture into tin and bake for 55 minutes or until crumbs cling to a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake.
Remove from oven and stand for 15 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.
Cover with icing.
Chocolate icing:
150g dark chocolate
3/4 thin cream
Combine chocolate and cream in a heat-resistant bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to stand for 1 and half hours or until room temperature. Stir occasionally.
Two recipes spring and leap and jump to mind... being of the chocaholic persuasion myself... If he is a pure chocolate fan then Bruce Bogtrotter is the way to go (http://www.se7en.org.za/2008/09/16/bruce-bogtrotter-cake-to-die-for-in-se7en-steps) and if he likes his chocolate with a little "more gooey, yumminess" the go with Jamie Oliver's Chocolate Fudge Cake (http://www.se7en.org.za/2009/10/21/the-celebrity-chef-tries-jamie-olivers-mega-chocolate-fudge-cake-in-se7en-steps-pass-it-on-recipe)... Have fun deciding!!!
ReplyDeleteI recently made the pioneer woman's chocolate sheet cake and it was AMAZING! Best cake i've ever made hands down. Recipe here:
ReplyDeletehttp://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_chocol/
Good luck Pip!
Hi Pip!
ReplyDeleteYou can never have too many chocolate cake recipes. This has been my standby chocolate cake for about 15 years. People always ask for the recipe. I hope you like it!
Versatile and easy-going chocolate cake
Serves 8
This is a rich but very easy recipe, and will still work if you customise it. You can successfully leave out the nuts and sultanas and alcohol, or replace them with dried cherries or other dried fruit. It is even richer and denser with almond meal, but equally good without.
50 g pecans, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup – optional)
50 g sultanas (about 1/4 cup – optional)
1/4 cup liqueur (practically anything will do; I’ve used rum, brandy, scotch, Cointreau, Kahlua, Frangelico, liqueur muscat, port and Drambuie)
200 g dark chocolate
185 g butter
50 g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon cornflour or plain flour OR 100–120 g almond meal
If you’re using the sultanas and pecans, combine them with the liqueur, cover and let soak for at least 30 minutes (or up to a few days).
Melt the butter and chocolate together over low heat or in the microwave, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool a little while you prepare the rest.
Preheat the oven to 160ยบ C. Grease a small (about 20 cm) round cake tin (normal or springform) and line the base with baking paper.
Beat the eggs and the sugar with electric beaters on high speed until they are pale and increased in volume, about 5 minutes.
On low speed, beat in the chocolate and butter.
With a large metal spoon, fold in the flour, nuts, sultanas and liqueur until well combined, then pour into the tin. The mixture will be quite runny; this is normal.
Bake for 45–60 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. (Because the cake contains so much chocolate, the skewer won’t come out completely clean; a few fudgy crumbs should still stick to it, which will ensure a moist interior.) If the cake starts to brown too much on the top towards the end of the cooking time, cover it loosely with foil.
Allow to cool completely in the tin. It will sink a bit in the middle. If the crater bothers you, this is a good excuse to fill it with cream and berries.
Serve warm or cold. The cake will last for up to five days. Like most chocolate cakes, it is best stored at room temperature; it will dry out if you refrigerate it.
If you like chocolate brownies, this recipe is the bomb (on my old blog)
ReplyDeletehttp://ladybugcat.blogspot.com/2010/03/freaky-chocolate-brownie-slice.html
You are making me hungry, I want a chocolate pudding. NOW.
WOW... you got a whole lotta baking ahead of you two- snap on the ARI biscuits... my little man (another Ari) and I are fond of making those too!
ReplyDeleteWant to know the secret of a really moist cake?
Add sour cream instead of milk... never fails!
And, if your oven is very hot (like gas can be) & dries things out, put a baking dish of water in the bottom of it while baking your cake.
I use the good old 1970s Nursing Mother's Cookbook 'Simplicity Chocolate Cake" recipe that my mum always made (but with sour cream).
How I wish they'd reprint that old gem of a book!!!
...It's also in the FRANKIE afternoon tea cookbook.
Thought I'd stray from the track a little with this favourite family recipe of ours, just in case Ari want's to branch out in the cullinary department...
Old fashioned German Plum Cake
(pears are good too at this time of year)
1/2 cup of butter (nutelex works too)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
10 plums (halved and stoned)
cinnamon & extra sugar OR icing sugar
1.Grease and flour a round (or traditionally ring) tin
2.Put butter, sugar & one egg in a bowl and stir 'briskly' till thoroughly mixed.
3.Add second egg and beat mixture with a wooden spoon until light.
4.Add baking powder and flour and mix well.
5.Spread mixture in tin. arrange fruit on top...
Nb. At this point you can sprinkle the cake with a half cup sugar mixed with 2 tsps of cinnamon
OR/
(as I prefer) once baked, cool, then turn out of the tin and sprinkle top with sifted icing sugar
EITHER WAY
5.Bake at 200c for 30mins or until crumbs come away from skewer when spiked... should be moist inside & hard outside
Serve with thick pure cream for afternoon tea or dessert or, as the germans do, have a slice for breakfast with a pot of strong black coffee.
GUTEN APPETIT xox
Hello Pip! I only use one chocolate cake recipe and have done since 1998 - it came out of a school cookbook and I adapted it so I didn't have to make it in the food processor http://sundaycrafternoon.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/cakesome/
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't mind being sent a non-direct link, but this way you can see just what the recipe is capable of before jumping into it...
(oh fantail cake! how am I going to do any better for this years' birthday? did I peak too early?) xLotte
Who doesn't love a good choccy cake. I love them in all their guises. I have two main recipes that I make regularly one takes less than an hour from start to out of the oven. It has come to be known as:
ReplyDeleteBEAT LIKE HECK
125g Butter/marg
1cp sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cp cocoa
1 3/4 cps SR Flour
1/2 ts bicarb soda
3/4 cp water
Put all ingredients in bowl of electric mixer and beat like heck for about 3 minutes or until mixture becomes pale in colour. Put in a greased 23cm square tin(I use this cos it cooks quicker). Bake at 180C about 30-40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.
This cake is very light in texture.
My other favourite when I have more time can be found here:
http://www.cadbury.com.au/Cadbury-Kitchen/Family-Favourites/Cadbury-Family-Cake.aspx
This one is lovely and moist, beautiful cut in half & filled with cream (especially the next day)
I have others recipes as well though I haven't found a 'Mud Cake' recipe that I can cook to my liking maybe one will turn up here.
Have fun trying all the recipes.
Hi Pip,
ReplyDeleteIf you ever get the chance - have a visit of Niko's cakes in Oakleigh, you will never be disappointed. Secondly, if you like pastries apart from chocolate - Le Croissant in Toorak Road Camberwell is also a good one.
This is our family cake.
ReplyDeletehttp://hausfraumelbourne.blogspot.com/2009/08/cake.html
Can be made a few days ahead, and doesn't need to be kept in the fridge.
Oh I am with Pilgrim, Stephanie Alexander's flourless Choc cake is easy and add a liquer, actually I think she adds brandy and I have made it for 20+ years and for kids too. Always appreciated always yummy.
ReplyDeleteHa! That is the very cake I make! The cake that USED to be served at Stephanie's Restaurant way back then is the Elizabeth David flourless chocolate cake! AND SNAP, because I have been making that for over 20 years too!!!! We are two peas in a pod!! xx
ReplyDeleteGreat Ocean Road Chocolate Cake, Good weekend, Oct 2000
ReplyDelete200g dark choc
125g butter
1 cup sugar
handful of nuts
1/2 cup sr flour
1 tbsp espresso
5 eggs
ok, so i didn't say it was healthy...
melt choc, butter + sugar together, cool 5 mins. add everything else, eggs last. much whisking between eggs. bake 30 mins or so at 180. so good it doesn't need icing. really.