Devil’s food chocolate cake with ganache frosting

Ingredients: 

Cake: 

• 1 cup (250ml) hot milk 
• 2 Tbsp (30ml) granulated coffee 
• 2 cups (300g) cake flour 
• 1 cup (125g) cocoa powder (see Cook’s Note) 
• 2 tsp (10ml) bicarbonate of soda 
• 1 tsp (5ml) baking powder 
• 1 tsp (5ml) fine salt 
• 1 cup (250g) butter, at room temperature 
• 2½ cups (500g) brown sugar 
• ½ cup (125ml) canola oil 
• 3 eggs + 1 egg yolk 
• 1 tub (250g) sour cream (or buttermilk) 

Ganache frosting: 

• 2 cups (500ml) cream 
• 400g good-quality dark (60-70%) chocolate, chopped  

Buttercream icing (optional): 

• 1 cup (250g) butter, softened 
• ½ cup (60g) cocoa powder, sifted 
• 2 cups (260g) icing sugar, sifted

NOTE: This recipe is for 1 cake which is sliced in half. For an impressive 4- or 6-layer cake, make the recipe twice or thrice (do not simply double or triple the ingredients). 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180˚ C and line an 18-20cm cake tin with baking paper. 
2. Whisk hot milk into coffee powder and set aside to cool. 
3. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, bicarb and baking powder. Add salt. 
4. Cream butter and sugar in a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, until pale and sugar has almost dissolved, about 10 minutes. 
5. Add eggs one by one, then extra yolk, making sure each is incorporated before adding the next. 
6. Stir in oil, cooled milk-coffee mixture and sour cream. 
7. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. 
8. Pour batter into cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes (be careful that it does not dry out). 
9. Cool cake completely, then slice in half. 
10. Repeat baking, making one or two more cakes, which are sliced in half to get four or six layers. 
11. To make ganache frosting, heat cream until warm (not quite steaming) and pour over chopped chocolate in a bowl. 
12. Whisk until completely melted, then cool until thickened (pop it in the fridge for 5-8 minutes to save time).  
13. Spread ganache frosting between cake layers and sandwich. 
14. To make buttercream icing, whisk butter until smooth, then add cocoa and icing sugar a cup at a time until incorporated. 
15. Cover entire cake with icing and decorate as you like. 

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