serves
12
prep
15 minutes
cook
1 hour
difficulty
Easy
serves
12
people
preparation
15
minutes
cooking
1
hour
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
- 250 g butter, room temperature, cut into 2 cm cubes, plus extra for greasing
- 200 g dark cooking chocolate, roughly chopped
- 1 ½ tsp instant coffee granules, dissolved in 350 ml boiling water
- 250 g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 240 g self-raising flour
- 30 g Dutch processed cocoa powder, plus 1½ tsp extra for dusting
- ¼ tsp salt
For the chocolate ganache
- 200 g dark chocolate, chopped roughly
- 200 ml thick cream
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 1 tbsp butter, softened
For the espresso cinnamon mascarpone cream
- 375 ml thick cream
- 190 g mascarpone
- ½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped
- 2 ½ tsp finely ground espresso coffee
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 ½ tbsp icing sugar
Cooling time: at least 1 hour.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced). Grease a 23 cm round cake tin and line with baking paper, then set aside.
- Combine the butter, chocolate and hot coffee in a large heatproof bowl and stir well until everything is melted, combined and smooth. Whisk in the sugar by hand, until dissolved. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk again until the mix is thoroughly combined and smooth. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt together into a bowl and whisk this into the melted chocolate mix. The batter here is quite liquid, this is normal!
- Pour the prepared cake batter into the prepared tin and bake for 60 minutes, or until the cake is cooked and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean or with just a few dry crumbs attached. The top will form a crust and crack a little, but don’t worry, this is expected. Allow the cake to cool for 20 minutes before removing from the tin and set aside until completely cool.
- To make the ganache, blitz the chocolate in the bowl of a food processor until finely chopped, then set aside. Heat the cream and golden syrup in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. As soon as bubbles begin to appear – just before it comes to the boil – remove from the heat. With the food processor running, slowly stream the hot cream into the chocolate, processing until the chocolate melts, then with the processor running, add the butter and blitz until the mixture is shiny and smooth. You can also do this by hand by pouring the cream mixture over finely chopped chocolate in a large bowl, stirring with a wooden spoon until almost melted, then add the butter, stirring to a smooth ganache.
- Transfer the ganache into a clean bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap over the ganache (pressing the wrap to the surface of the ganache) and allow to set at room temperature to your preferred thick or thinner consistency (allow it to sit at room temperature for up to 2 hours for a thicker texture). When it has reached your desired consistency, use it to ice the cake: pour while still liquid for an even, light and shiny coating, or if you have cooled the ganache to a spreadable consistency, use a spatula or knife to ice the cake.
- To make the espresso cinnamon mascarpone cream, combine the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment fitted. Whisk for 1-2 minutes, or until soft peaks form.
- Serve the chocolate cake with the mascarpone cream on the side.
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Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
