More than 1 hour
Serves 12-16
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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
- Preheat oven to 180˚ C and line an 18-20cm cake tin with baking paper.
- Whisk hot milk into coffee powder and set aside to cool.
- Sift together flour, cocoa powder, bicarb and baking powder. Add salt.
- Cream butter and sugar in a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, until pale and sugar has almost dissolved, about 10 minutes.
- Add eggs one by one, then extra yolk, making sure each is incorporated before adding the next.
- Stir in oil, cooled milk-coffee mixture and sour cream.
- Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
- Pour batter into cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes (be careful that it does not dry out).
- Cool cake completely, then slice in half.
- Repeat baking, making one or two more cakes, which are sliced in half to get four or six layers.
- To make ganache frosting, heat cream until warm (not quite steaming) and pour over chopped chocolate in a bowl.
- Whisk until completely melted, then cool until thickened (pop it in the fridge for 5-8 minutes to save time).
- Spread ganache frosting between cake layers and sandwich.
- To make buttercream icing, whisk butter until smooth, then add cocoa and icing sugar a cup at a time until incorporated.
- Cover entire cake with icing and decorate as you like.