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.
Personal Note
I made this chocolate mud cake for my amazing builder Peter (this cake is also named after Peter's mum Anne). He was having a birthday while we were away and I promised him that I'd make him a birthday cake when we got back. "What kind of cake do you like?" I asked him. "I'm just a simple guy so just a chocolate mud cake," said Peter. Over the last few months I've learnt that he loves meat, he loves his barbecue, he loves his VB and he loves a classic mud cake.
Apart from being a great builder he is also some sort of miracle worker. Our bank account is feeling a bit abused post-holidays and I showed him a pill shaped black rimmed mirror for our downstairs bathroom and asked his opinion. He looked at it and said "That looks expensive, I'm sure I've seen them at the Bunnings for much cheaper than that,". An hour later he returned with pretty much the exact same mirror but for $60 instead of $700! Not surprisingly the staff at his local store love him and often mark items down for him. I joke that he will one day have a show called Everyone Loves Peter.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you like chocolate mud cake? What cake did you choose for your birthday cake this year?