Desserts by iSa
Type: Cake, Bake at home
Prep Time: 30 min
Cooking Time: 50 - 60 Min
Servings: 10 Slices (depending on portion size)
Ingredients:
- 400 g Dark or Milk Chocolate (I prefer dark)
- 75 ml water
- 175 g soft butter
- 250 g light brown sugar
- 4 Large eggs
- 100 g self raising flour
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 150 - 200 g Arequipe, Dulce de leche or "Caramel Treat" (from Nestle)
- 2 Bar One Chocolates chopped (MilkyWay can also be used)
- 6 tbsp milk
How to make the best Chocolate Cake ever: First of all I have to say, I'm not bragging, I have to admit that I based this cake on 2 different recipes that were extremely helpful, as I'm very much an amateur when it comes to baking and don't really know my proportions very well. However, given the bases I proceeded to add my own twists to make it more appealing to our taste buds.
Start by pre-heating your oven to about 160 degrees C, then butter the inside of your Cake tin and lightly dust it with some flour (will prevent your cake from sticking).Chop 300g of the Chocolate and add it to the water, just after it has reached boiling point and as soon as you move it away from the heat. Stir nicely and patiently until melted (make sure you have moved away from the stove, you don't want to burn your chocolate!)
In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and butter until pale and creamy (electric beater allowed). I have to make a pause here and insist, please make sure that the butter is nice and soft, otherwise is going to take you much longer than expected to arrive at the desired state. Add the eggs 1 at a time and beat them into the mixture.
Note 1: If you notice the mixture is curdling, beat in one or two tablespoons of the flour.
Take the previously melted chocolate (which should now be cool enough) and stir into the mixture (by hand). Sift the flour and the cocoa in and the ingredients together gently. Do not mix with full arm strength, just fold it into an even batter!
Pour this rich Chocolate Cake Batter (yes, you could it off the bowl!) in the Cake Tin and place into the pre-heated oven for between 50 to 60 min. The length of time will depend on how fudgy you want your cake; although it should not be wobbly to the touch, stick in a skewer or knife gently and it should come out slightly wet, but not doughy. Turn off the oven and open the door, but don't take it out immediately, allow it to rest for about 5-10 min and then let it cool outside the oven on a heat resistant surface.
Allow it to cool for at least 20 or 30 min before even attempting to remove the tin. Then let it cool for at least another 30-60 min prior to slicing into halves. The slicing part has never been easy for me as I tend to go skewed or the cake tends to break on me while attempting to separate the halves and place back together, so please be gentle and don't be discouraged if it doesn't come out perfect. Sandwich the two halves with Arequipe, Dulce de leche, Caramel Treat or some sort of Milk Caramel/Butterscotch spread; although it takes much more preparation and time, I would suggest to make your own Arequipe ahead of time and use it for this an many other treats! Please click here for the recipe.
How to make the Bar One Chocolate Topping and final touches: This is a piece of cake! Just chop the Bar One or MilkyWay chocolates an place in a small pot with the remainder of the dark chocolate and the milk. Melt in medium heat while stirring, as soon as is melted, take away from heat and pour all over your cake. Then decorate with some nuts (if you like them) and here you could get creative, although with such a rich cake I'm thinking, please don't go too wild. I also diluted about two teaspoons of Arequipe in about 1 shot of Amarula, to make a nice sauce and poured it here and there all over the cake, it was easy, it looked nice and it tasted even better!
You can eat the cake freshly made or to eat over various days, store it in the fridge cover very well with cling wrap and cut out slices as you wish, sticking them 15 to 20 sec in the microwave to warm up the cake and make all of its flavors come to life once again.
Enjoy for a special occasion or a celebration with the best company, a nice coffee or a glass of milk!
Special Thanks for their helpful recipes to:
Love, iSa
