Baking with Edel: Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

I’ve always loved a good chocolate cake. When I learned how to bake my own, I loved it even more. I think I’ve finally found the chocolate cake recipe that suits my taste and those of my loved ones. If you remember this post, the chocolate cake recipe I used there was different.

a slice of chocolate-y goodness!

I think this new recipe I found is simpler and better. It’s also quite easy to follow. You don’t even need a mixer in making it. A whisker is enough, or even just an ordinary ladle. But since I’m a little OC and wanted to make sure all ingredients were thoroughly mixed, I decided to still use my Marubishi electric mixer.

this cake tastes better than it looks in this photo 🙂

This chocolate cake recipe, which came from JoyofBaking.com, also includes a recipe for chocolate frosting. But since I’m only using baking chocolate and not a superior kind of chocolate, I didn’t like the frosting I made because I felt it wasn’t chocolate-y enough. (That, or I just didn’t follow the instructions properly.) So, I whipped up a ganache frosting instead which turned out to be very good. It’s a combination of bittersweet chocolate and heavy cream (all-purpose cream will do as they’re almost the same thing).

Without further a do, here’s the recipe I’m raving about:

Simple Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar
1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (75 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Ricoa brand!)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup (240 ml) warm water or coffee (I used coffee!)
1 cup (240 ml) milk
1/2 cup (120 ml) oil (I used canola oil!)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray with a non-stick vegetable spray, two 9-inch (23 cm) cake pans. Then line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.

In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, water (or coffee), milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. (The batter will be quite thin.) Evenly divide the batter between the two pans and bake for about 27 – 32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake just comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Then remove the cakes from their pans and cool completely on a greased wire rack before frosting.

For the chocolate ganache frosting, here’s the recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s site. I tweaked it so it’s now composed of just two ingredients.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Ingredients:

150g bittersweet chocolate (I used Dutché brand!)
200 ml heavy cream (I used Nestle All-Purpose Cream)

Directions:

1. In a pan with low heat, pour the cream. When it starts to simmer, add the bittersweet chocolate. Mix thoroughly.
2. Thicken the mixture until it becomes spreadable.
3. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
4. Spread generously onto the cake.

Tip: Make sure the cake has cooled completely before spreading the ganache frosting. Otherwise, it will just absorb the ganache frosting and become soggy.

The best thing about this cake is that it remains moist and soft even when placed inside the ref. According to JoyofBaking.com, it’s because the cake uses oil and not butter which tends to make the cake dry and firm.

If ever you get to make this recipe, please let me know how your cake turned out. Thanks and happy baking! 🙂