Classic Chocolate Mud Cake
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes
This cake is best made the day before icing
Serves: 10
- 250g/8.8ozs butter, cubed
- 200g/7ozs. dark chocolate
- 160g/5.6ozs brown sugar
- 160g/5.6ozs caster or superfine sugar
- 1 cup/250ml/8.8flozs buttermilk
- 100mls/3.5ozs. espresso coffee
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 3 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or extract
- 225g/8ozs. plain all purpose flour
- 55g/2ozs cornflour/fine cornstarch
- 50g cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
For icing
-
150ml/5flozs cream
-
1.5 tablespoons glucose syrup or corn syrup
-
180g/6ozs chocolate (I used half milk half dark chocolate)
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 140C/285F and line the base and sides of a 20cm/8inch round cake tin. In a large saucepan add the butter, chocolate, brown sugar, caster sugar, buttermilk and coffee and set to low medium heat to melt and stir to combine. Cool for 15 minutes and then whisk in the eggs and vanilla.
Step 2 - In a large bowl sift in the flour, cornflour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and whisk so that the cocoa is evenly distributed. Make a well in the centre and add in the liquid mixture gradually. To ensure that you get an even, velvety texture pass this mixture through a sieve to get rid of any lumps. Pour into the tin and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until the centre is no longer wobbly or jiggly to the touch.
Step 3 - To make the ganache place the finely chopped chocolate or chocolate bits in a large, heatproof bowl and have a plate or cling film ready to cover the bowl completely. Heat the cream until almost boiling. Stir in the glucose syrup and mix until smooth and then pour over the chocolate. Place the lid on top covering all of the chocolate and leave to sit for 10 minutes to melt the chocolate. Stir the chocolate and cream together until smooth. If you get a few bits remaining you can microwave the chocolate mixture on 50% power until all of the chocolate has melted. Allow to sit for 60 minutes or even overnight at room temperature and then ice the cake.