Indulge in a slice of cake inspired by Roald Dahl’s book; Matilda. This rich and sumptuous chocolate cake recipe is made with three layers of sponge and a creamy chocolate icing.
15 ingredients8 steps
Vegetarian
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C, gas mark 4). Grease and base line 3 x 18cm sandwich tins with baking parchment.
Step 2
Sift together the flours, bicarbonate of soda and the cocoa powder into a large bowl. Stir in the muscovado sugar, breaking down any sugar clumps until evenly combined.
Step 3
In a medium pan set over a very low heat, gently combine together the chocolate and butter with 145ml of water. Stir continuously and heat just until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
Step 4
Add the melted chocolate mixture, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract to the dry ingredients and mix well until a combined and smooth batter is formed.
Step 5
Divide the batter evenly between the 3 prepared tins and place into the oven. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins before turning out onto a wire rack.
Step 6
To prepare the ganache: gently heat the double cream and muscovado sugar in a pan, just until the cream looks like it is starting to come to the boil.
Step 7
Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Mix well together until the chocolate has all melted and stir in the golden syrup. Leave to cool at room temperature so it thickens slightly.
Step 8
Once the cakes have cooled, sandwich them together with a thin layer of ganache and smooth the rest over the top and sides of the cake until completely covered.
Ingredients
MetricImperial
For the cake
125gAllinson's Self Raising Flour
125gAllinson's Plain White Flour
0.5 tspBicarbonate of soda
40gCocoa powder
425gUnrefined dark muscovado sugar
240gDark chocolate (broken into small pieces)
240gUnsalted Butter (softened)
145mlWater
4Egg(s) (free range) (beaten, medium)
95mlButtermilk
2 tspNielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract
For the ganache
200gDark chocolate (broken into small pieces)
250mlDouble cream
1 tbspUnrefined dark muscovado sugar
1 tbspSilver Spoon Golden Syrup
Nutritional information per 120g serving
Energy 528cal
Fat 31g
of which Saturates 19g
Carbohydrates 53g
of which Sugars 41g
Protein 6.2g
Salt 0.32g
6 Baker Ratings
The cake recipe itself produced a rather crumbly cake layer. After the first layer came out this way, I ended up adding 2 more eggs for structure and density for the next 2 layers.
Love this?
made this cake a few times now, very indulgent chocolaty cake, always a winner with everyone who's tried it. Easy to make for such a lovely cake
