When in doubt always bake a chocolate cake. I don’t know who said this, but it is one of the most useful pieces of advice I have heard.
This velvety cocoa cake was baked for my dad’s 61st birthday. A soft and delicate cake it comes alive with each bite of ganache melting in your mouth. Its a simple recipe inspired from Martha Stewart.
Velvety Cocoa Cake with Ganache
What you will need:
- 2 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour (maida)
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 170 gram butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cup buttermilk
What to do:
- In a bowl, mix together flour + cocoa powder + baking soda. Then sift it with a sieve and keep aside.
- In another bigger bowl, whisk the butter with both the sugars until it is smooth and creamy. I generally use an electric mixer, but a whisk will also work.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, while whisking so as to make it a smooth batter.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix.
- Now to this butter mixture, add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately. Fold it in with a spatula. Always start and end with the dry ingredients.
- Prepare two 9 inch round baking pans. Line the bottom with parchment paper and generously butter the sides.
- Pre-heat the oven to 160 C and bake the cakes for 25-30 minutes, till a skewer inserted in the centre of the pan comes out clean.
- Once the cakes are baked, run a butter knife through the sides of the cake to release it from the pan.
- Turn it over to a wire mesh and let it cool completely before frosting with ganache.
- For ganache recipe , see here.
TIPS:
- To make a tiered cake, I bake this recipe in three 9 inch pans, so as to do 3 layers of ganache filling. But two layers also work fine.
- After adding flour, always gently fold in with a spatula, refrain from using a whisk. It gives softer feel to the cake.
Cheers!
Rutvika
