Chocolate Mud Cake
Its rich and dense and decadent and oh-so chocolaty. It has become a family favorite as well as my go-to fudgy chocolate cake recipe! Its like a party in the mouth. I used it for the first time to make the 6 yo's 6th birthday Dinosaur Dig Site Cake. I was looking for a fudgy cake recipe to sculpt out a volcano (with flowing lava) but a sudden bout of shoulder spasm & a flared up tennis elbow made me scrap that idea and go with a very simple dig site cake - the Dinosaur loving kid was thrilled to bits. I used my Eggless Brownie recipe to make the mountains and crushed graham crackers to give a sandy look.
Then I used the same recipe to bake the husband's birthday cake. This time in a 9 inch round tin pan with minimal decorations. Poured some chocolate ganache, sprinkled some chocolate shavings and added few raspberries. Everyone loved it!
Today I'm making it again for a friend's husband's surprise birthday party. On request! That makes me really happy! It is a layered cake. I filled the layers with orange flavored chocolate mousse filling and covered it with whipped Ganache (beat the ganache for at least 5 minutes till it becomes lighter in color) and then poured Ganache over it. Decorated with Ferrero Rochers and ganache dipped Whoppers.
Ingredients:
- All Purpose Flour - 2 Cups
- Sugar - 2 3/4 Cup
- Cocoa Powder - 1/2 Cup
- Instant Coffee - 2 tbsp
- Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
- Baking Powder - 2 tsp
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Eggs - 4 large, at room temperature
- Oil - 2 tbsp
- Butter - 1 1/4 Cup, unsalted (preferably at room temperature)
- Chocolate - 8 ounces, I used Ghiradeli bittersweet baking bars
- Milk - 1/2 Cup
- Hot water - 3/4 Cup
In a cup, quickly whisk together the coffee granules and 3/4 Cup hot water. Using the double broiler method (see below), heat the butter, sugar, chopped chocolate and coffee-water mixture till everything melts and comes together into a smooth concoction. Take the bowl off the heat and let it cool down.
While the chocolaty concoction cools down, grease a 8 inch or 9 inch round pan. Cut out circles in the size of your pan out of parchment paper and line the bottom of it with it. Spray (oil) or butter the top of it. Use long strips of parchment paper (at least two inches higher than the pan) and stick it to the side of the pans. Smooth the parchment paper down with another dab of butter. This will ensure that the parchment paper sticks and the cake can rise freely without spilling over.
Once the chocolate mix has cooled down slightly add the milk to it. This will bring down the temperature further before adding the eggs. Give it a quick whisk. Now whisk in the eggs one by one using a electric mixer followed by the oil.
Now add the dry ingredients. I sifted the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt in a separate bowl and then added to the wet mix.
Beat the batter on low speed till everything comes together.
Pour the batter into the prepped pans, and bake for 2 hours till done. Insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean, it is done. I prefer checking at the 1.5 hour mark and adding additional 10 minutes till done. Another way of knowing that the cake is done is that it will start pulling away from the sides.
If you are using a 13x9 rectangular pan, it will take lesser time to bake.
Let the cake cool down before transferring it to the cooling rack.
Slather it with frosting or eat as it is. I like to pour ganache over it.
The recipe from here!
Double Broiler Method: Fill a saucepan halfway with water and place a heat-safe bowl on it. Make sure that the water in the pan does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Heat the ingredients on low heat, stirring occasionally.
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