This super gooey and rich chocolate cake is so good because of its moist cake and indulgent chocolate ganache.
The cake is midway between a sponge cake and a brownie, just dense enough to taste like a brownie but not to the point where it would be very difficult to assemble. This is probably one of my favourite chocolate cakes because it is so fudgy and so much like a brownie but to add to the brownie, you also get icing so it's the best of both worlds. The cake is so moist and gooey thanks to the oil used instead of butter and the pomegranate juice. That is the difference between using butter and oil but to make sure you aren't missing out on that flavour butter adds to bakes, I added in a bit more chocolate than I usually would to add more flavour.
The ganache has a consistency a little like a mousse and it might be a little difficult to spread onto the cake but just bear with me, it will stick. Just remember, with icing, put on loads because it is easy to scrape off and this ensures to get a smooth surface. It's normal that the icing will be amazingly thick, DO NOT add milk to thin it out, the icing will split and go gross. It being thick might make it a little harder to spread but it will be really delicious when eating.
The flavour of the pomegranate is very subtle in the cake and having them on the top adds an element of freshness to the cake which is really delicious.
The theme of the cake is the night, which is why the pomegranate seeds are arranged int the shape of a moon and there are white chocolate stars. The pomegranate seed moon is very effective and really makes the cake look majestic and different.
Ingredients:
For the cake:
3 eggs
250 grams self-raising flour
30 grams of cocoa powder
250 grams of caster sugar
100 grams of melted dark chocolate
130 ml of vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of instant coffee granules
200 ml pomegranate juice
For the ganache:
200 grams of dark chocolate
4 tablespoons of golden syrup
300 ml double cream
100 grams of unsalted butter
For the chocolate drip:
50 grams of dark chocolate
2 tablespoons of golden syrup
50 grams of unsalted butter
To garnish:
70 grams of melted white chocolate
Pomegranate seeds
Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C and grease 3 cake tins with butter and then dust on some flour.
For the cake, sift the flour + salt + baking powder + baking soda in bowl and mix to combine.
In a separate bowl or jug, combine the oil + sugar and whisk until combined. Then crack in the eggs and mix well until combined.
In a saucepan, place the cocoa powder + pomegranate juice + instant coffee granules and mix until all combined. Heat for 1 minute or until the cocoa powder is dissolved. Make sure to not burn the cocoa powder. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, while you melt the chocolate.
Add your cocoa mixture + melted chocolate to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
Pour your wet ingredients gradually into the dry, whisking all the time until a liquid batter forms.
Pour the batter into the 3 prepared tins and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean after being poked inside.
Leave to cool for 20 minutes and then take the cakes out of their tins and leave to cool completely on a wire rack. Level your cakes with a knife or a cake-leveller to make sure the top is completely flat.
To make the ganache, melt the butter + chocolate + golden syrup in a bain-marie. Mix every now and again to not burn the chocolate. Once the chocolate is just melted, take the bowl out of the saucepan of boiling water and leave to cool for 5 minutes before adding 2/3 of the cream. Mix well and then leave your ganache in the fridge for at least 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the white chocolate decorations; Melt the white chocolate and place into a disposable piping bag. Cut off the end to make a really small hole. Pipe the chocolate onto a sheet of parchment on a baking tray in the shapes of stars. Leave the stars to set in the fridge for 1 hour.
Take your ganache and whip it up with the remaining cream to get a moussy icing that is lighter in colour. Take your cakes and place 1/5 of the icing on the first layer and spread. Repeat the process for all of the layers.
In the end, you are left with 2/5 of the icing remaining to ice the sides of the cake. Do so remembering that to make it easier to spread, always put more icing than you need and then scrape it off to get smooth sides.
Leave your cake to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
To make your chocolate drip, melt all of the ingredients in a bain-marie and mix well so that all of the ingredients are combined. Once your ingredients are fully melted, take your cake out of the fridge and drip on your chocolate drip, spreading it out to the sides so that it drips down the sides of the cake, but do this slowly to make sure there will be enough chocolate dip to do an even drip around all of the cake.
Finally, garnish by placing pomegranate seeds in the shape of a moon on the top of the cake and if you have extra, at the bottom and don't forget to add on your chocolate stars.
Serve your decadent cake that will impress your loved ones for sure. I really hoped you enjoyed making this cake and that the time fled by like it did with me when I was making it.
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