Recipe

Crowd-pleaser chocolate cake

Feb 07, 2010 1:00pm
  • 2 hrs cooking
  • Serves 10
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Photography by Brett Stevens. Food styling by Kristen Wilson

Ingredients

Crowd-pleaser chocolate cake
  • 200 gram dark chocolate, chopped finely
  • 1/3 cup (35g) cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 1/3 cup (330ml) boiling water
  • 250 gram butter, softened
  • 1 3/4 cup (385g) firmly packed brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup (150g) plain flour
  • 2 cup (300g) self-raising flour
  • 2/3 cup (160ml) sour cream, at room temperature
  • fresh flowers, to decorate, optional
Sour cream frosting
  • 375 gram dark chocolate, melted
  • 3/4 cup (180ml) sour cream
  • 1 1/2 cup (240g) pure icing sugar, sifted

Method

Crowd-pleaser chocolate cake
  • 1
    Place chocolate, cocoa and soda in a medium bowl; pour boiling water over. Stand mixture for 2 minutes. Whisk chocolate mixture until smooth; refrigerate until lukewarm.
  • 2
    Meanwhile, preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan-forced). Grease a 28cm round cake pan and line the base with baking paper.
  • 3
    Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Fold in half the cooled chocolate mixture, then combined sifted flours. Fold in remaining chocolate mixture, then the sour cream (do not overmix).
  • 4
    Pour mixture into the prepared pan; smooth the top. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until cooked when tested. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
  • 5
    To make sour cream frosting; combine chocolate and sour cream in a medium bowl. Gradually stir in icing sugar; mix until smooth and spreadable.
  • 6
    Split the cooled cake into 2 layers. Place bottom layer, cut-side up, on a serving plate. Spread with 1/3 of the sour cream frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread top and sides with remaining frosting. Decorate with fresh flowers, if desired.

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