Chocolaty Chocolate cake

Celebrating 100th post in The Eat Gallery with an extra chocolaty chocolate cake , don't Google for "chocolaty" - am not sure if that word exists, I named it , as its all about chocolate with a chocolate Ganache & white chocolate border....... for those who are chocolate lovers like me and many others....

Thanks for reading as am very happy today to upload my 100th recipe here. Its just the beginning I know , though sometimes I feel that am struggling to keep up with other blogs that I follow.....this keeps me happy and engaged.....no time for Bla bla in phone that I used to do and no time for that lazy afternoon nap too...sometimes I am so happy & excited when I see the view - status going up and sometimes disappointed  when it remains the same :( 

Anyways enjoying it thoroughly.

Chocolate cake is my favorite and at least sometimes a homemaker should live for herself , my excuse to Soccer man who dislikes any chocolaty taste. 

For today I go with the quote 

Forget love 

I'd rather fall in Chocolate 

Ingredients for the chocolate cake 

(Double the quantity for 2 cakes and fill the frosting in between while assembling the same)

Dry Ingredients 

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Baking Soda - 1 tsp

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Cocoa Powder - 1/4 cup (or little less , if you don't like too much chocolate taste) 

Sugar - 1 cup 

Wet Ingredients 

Egg - 1 

Curd - 1/2 cup 

Vegetable oil or else butter - 1/4 cup 

Vanilla extract / essence - 1/2 tsp

Hot freshly made coffee - 1/2 cup (I used Nescafe) 

Method 

* Preheat the oven to 350 degree F 

* Butter 8 inch round cake pan and keep aside.

* Sift together All purpose flour + Baking soda + Baking Powder + Salt + Coco Powder and keep aside. 

* Beat Egg with oil/butter and sugar. Beat till nicely mixed and add vanilla extract and curd, continue beating till well combined.

* Add in the sifted flour mixture and the hot coffee alternately , stirring in between , till all the flour and coffee is mixed in.

*Pour this batter to the greased pan and bake in 350 degree F for 30 to 35 minutes ,until a tester comes out clean.

 Keep the cake to cool.

For the chocolate Ganache 

Heavy cream - 1 cup 

Bitter sweet chocolate chips  - 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup (as per your preference) 

Coffee powder - 1/4 tsp  (optional) 

Method 

* Place a double boiler and add the cream , when the cream starts heating , add in the chocolate chips and coffee and stir till the chocolates are all melted.

* Stir until you get a smooth chocolate Ganache with no lumps. 

* Pour half of this mixture over the cooled chocolate cake , spread and cover the cake with the same and leave it to set a bit (may refrigerate it to set easily) 

* After the first layer is set , pour in,  the rest of the ganache , repeat to make a second coating and refrigerate again till set. 

For the White chocolate borders - Art work ;) 

You'll need the following things 

White chocolate chips - 1 cup (Approx) 

Aluminium foil or else parchment paper or else a plastic fold-able strip  

Method 

* Double boil the white chocolate chips until all melted , transfer this to a plastic storage bag with its tip end cut off a bit , or else use a piping bag. 

* Cut the aluminium foil to the length of the cake (when kept round) , fold the foil to make a strip like shown below. 

* Pipe some designs on to the foil , I just made a crisscross slanting design , like the one below. (If trying it for the first time , make the designs little thick as otherwise it may break ,while taking off the foil )

* Wrap this foil around the cake , as a border to the cake , as shown below

 (Make sure that the cake is cooled , then the chocolate can set fast)  

* Keep this in the freezer for 3 to 5  minutes , until the white chocolate border is set  and then slowly remove the foil , the chocolate design then sticks to the cake , and makes a nice border.

May sprinkle some shaved chocolate pieces on the top , if you like. 

For me "Art work"  for the day was done ;) so I stopped and started with the clicks 

Couldn't wait for my NA to reach home from school to cut the cake .....it was tempting 

Happy 100th post !!

Thanks for reading :) 

Notes : 

* When melting chocolate chips in the double boiler , the top pan (in which the chocolate chips are going to be melted) should be clean with no water residue. & also the top pan shouldn't touch the water underneath , as then the pan would get more heated and ruin the chocolates.

* For the chocolate borders , Plastic fold able strip is what the experts use , but I didn't have it so tried it with the foil wrap but it came out okay :)  Watch Youtube Link to see how to make Chocolate Borders for cakes. 

Cheers 

TN