What is the basic recipe for a Chocolate cake to save forever?

There are dozens of chocolate cake recipes, with or without flour, dark or milk chocolate, one layer or several, etc. Indeed, many of you have a formula that works wonderfully and does not change. That’s what happens to me with this chocolate cake. It’s great as a cake on its own but doubles as a base for a cake.

The base is a versatile, devilishly dark and chocolaty sponge cake, achieved by using chocolate and cocoa in the batter. A moist and spongy cake, although the texture becomes denser and firmer if we take it directly from the fridge. In any case, it is the ideal chocolate cake for me, and I recommend that you try to make it.

Ingredients

for eight people

• Covering dark chocolate 410g 
• Whole milk 140ml 
• Lemon juice 15ml 
• Wheat flour 150g 
• cocoa powder 60g 
• chemical yeast 5g 
• salt pinch
• Butter (at room temperature) 200g 
• Brown sugar 90g 
• white sugar 110g 
• “M” size eggs (at room temperature) 3
• Vanilla 5g 
• Boiling water 125ml 
• Liquid cream 400ml 

How to make chocolate cake

Difficulty: Medium

• total time 1 hour
• Elaboration 30m 
• Cooking 30m 
• Repose 3 hours

We start by separating 350 grams of dark couverture chocolate and 50 grams of butter to make a chocolate ganache. With which to fill and cover the cake. We reserve both ingredients and proceed with the preparation of the dough for the cake.

First, we melt the rest of the couverture chocolate (60 grams) and let it cool down. To do this, we chop it and heat it in the microwave. Next, we use short heat strokes, 30 seconds, to prevent burning and stir between heat strokes. Repeat the operation as many times as necessary until the chocolate has melted. Reserve until cool.

On the other hand, mix the milk with the lemon juice, stir and let it rest for at least 15 minutes. The milk will curdle due to the acid of the lemon, and its texture will be similar to that of yoghurt, but this is precisely what we are looking for, so we will use it to make our sponge cake without any worries.

While the chocolate tempers and the milk rests, we prepare three moulds 20 cm in diameter in which we are going to bake the sponge cake. Then, grease each one with a bit of butter, cut circles of parchment paper the size of their bases and cover them with them. Then, place the moulds on a baking tray.

We turn the oven to 180ºC, up and down, and start preparing the mixture. Then, put the flour, cocoa, chemical booster, and salt in a large bowl and set aside. Then, with a rod mixer or a kitchen robot, beat the remaining 150 grams of butter together with the two types of sugar until the mixture is creamy.

Next, add the eggs, one at a time, not adding the next until the previous one is perfectly integrated into the buttercream. Then, add the vanilla and stir until incorporated. Finally, don’t worry if the mixture seems choppy; it’s perfectly normal.

At this point, we incorporate the melted and tempered chocolate. We beat it with the rods at a gentle speed until it was fully integrated. Then we add the dry ingredients (i.e. the flour mixture) alternating with the milk. Then, add the dry ingredients and the milk twice, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, until you get a thick dough.

Finally, add the boiling water and stir until incorporated. Pour the mixture into the three moulds in equal quantities, and place them in the oven, halfway up. We cook for

approximately 20 minutes or until we see that it is cooked. Remove from the oven and let cool on a metal rack.

When they have lost some temperature, we put the moulds in a plastic bag and tie it. Let the biscuits finish cooling entirely inside. With this technique, we get the biscuits to be very juicy and moist. We can use the biscuits once cold or let them settle until the next day, in which case we will keep them in the fridge.

To prepare the dark chocolate ganache to fill and cover the cake, we start by heating the cream in a saucepan. When it reaches boiling, please remove it from the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Then, we cover and wait five minutes until the chocolate melts with the residual heat. After this time, add the butter and stir with a whisk until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.

Pour the mixture into a pastry bag and allow to cool before using. We need the ganache to lose heat; otherwise, it will spread around the inside and outside of the cake, and we won’t be able to fill or cover it adequately. The ideal temperature is room temperature.

To assemble the cake, spread the dark chocolate ganache over one of the biscuits, place another on top, cover again with more ganache over the surface, and finish by placing the third biscuit on top. With the help of a spatula moistened with water, spread the rest of the ganache over the surface and sides, making sure not to leave gaps.

What to accompany the chocolate cake

This chocolate cake is hearty, so I recommend going easy on the portions. We can also reduce the number of layers, in which case we will have to adjust the amounts of the ingredients to be used. It is perfect for mid-afternoon and with a very cool glass of milk. So we can accompany it with creamy vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche. It will be delicious.