Ann Reardon

Best Chocolate Cake Ever

Best Chocolate Cake Recipe Ever

 

Have you ever been disappointed by a dry and tasteless chocolate cake? Well then this is the recipe for you. This is my all time favourite chocolate cake recipe. It makes a rich moist cake that tastes like chocolate. The photos below are from making four times the quantities listed in this recipe – to make a cake big enough for 100 people. The picture above is from one quantity of this cake, layered with chocolate mousse, centered with orange creme brulee, coated in chocolate glacage and decorated with tempered milk chocolate.

 

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 hour 30 min
Total time:1 hour 45 min
Yield: 15 servings
Serving size: 1 medium slice
Calories per serving:460 (1350 kj (322.66 calories))
Fat per serving: 26g (0.92 ounces)

Ingredients:
200g (7.05 ounces) 70% cocoa dark chocolate
315g (11.11 ounces) or 1 1/3 cups plus 2 tbl spoons margarine
8 eggs
2 1/4 cups or 486g (17.14 ounces) caster sugar
1 1/4 cups or 200g (7.05 ounces) plain flour (use GF flour if coeliac, this recipe has been tested with gluten free flour and works well)
1/4 cup or 30g (1.06 ounces) cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. Place chocolate and margarine into a bowl.
chocolate in bowl with margarine
melt chocolate in the microwave
2. Melt in the microwave (30seconds, stir, 30sec, stir…).
best chocolate cake step by step
whisk eggs and sugar together
3. Whisk the eggs and sugar together
chocolate cake mixing
combine egg and chocolate
4. Combine egg and chocolate mixtures
sift flour cocoa powder and baking powder together
5. Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together and mix into cake mixture until well blended.
chocolate chocolate cake
chocolate cake making recipe
6. Pour into cake tin or cup cake cases. (tip: if you don’t have a cake tin the right size or shape you can use a plain card board box lined with glad bakewell, make sure the box does not have shiny print or photos on it as then it will have a thin coat of plastic which will melt).
large cake pan lined with baking paper

7. Bake in slow oven 150C (302 degrees Fahrenheit) in 2 x 20cm (7.87 inches) round cake tins.  If you are making a large cake this can take well over an hour.  If the cake is looking done on top but is not yet cooked through put an empty baking tray on the shelf above it in the oven.  Insert a knife into the centre to check if it is done. Moderate oven 180C (356 degrees Fahrenheit) is fine, for cupcakes allow approx 20 mins.

by Ann Reardon How To Cook That

March 6, 2011

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My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

295 Comments View Comments

  1. Hi Ann, thanks for all your helpful recipes and tutorials. I have just made your best ever chocolate cake recipe and it absolutely lives up to its name! Having tried recipes from other well known cooking identities, and always having hit-and-miss results, I am thrilled with the texture and rich chocolate flavour of your recipe. I also made it gluten free and it is sensational! Thanks so much for your generosity. Best wishes.

    • Hi Billie, I am glad you liked it too, thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a lovely comment.

    • I know I am a few years too late ?, but what gluten free flour did you use? Also did you need to make any changes to the recipe to adjust to the gluten free flour? I do hope I get a reply in time. Thank you ?

  2. Hi Ann
    Just stumbled across your site. I am very excited by what I see and read.Thank you for your generosity in sharing all the lovely recipes.
    I am looking to try out the chocolate cupcakes. Question : how many cupcakes will I make base on the recipe ?Is it OK to half the recipe ?

    • Hi EMily yes you can halve the recipe, from memory it will make 24 cupcakes if you make the full amount.

  3. Hello Anne,
    I having a baby shower for my daughter, there are about 30 people. Would the quantiy be enough or would I have to double the recipe? Does it have to be covered with ganache or can I use buttercream?
    Thanks Berni

  4. What kind of dark chocolate do I need for this? Is it unsweetened or semi-sweet? Do I use Baker’s chocolate or any kind? Thanks, and this is a great site!

    • Hi naima, I use dark chocolate that says it is 70% cocoa

  5. Hi Anne
    Did You coat the cake at all with butter cream for instance before coating with the glacage as i would like to do something similar.

    Thanks Andy

    • Hi Andy, yes I coated it in ganache and had ganache between the layers. The cake needs to be frozen to coat in this glaze.

      • Thank you Ann for the reply. Here is a pic of the cake I made using your glacage recipe. Thanks again.

        • YUMMM, I’d like a slice of that. Great job Andy

  6. Dear Ann,
    I love your blog and your videos. It looks so simple but I know sometimes it isn’t. So my questions is also: By which temperatures and how long I need to bake this wonderful delicious cake? Happy weekend
    Gabbie

    • Hi Gabbie, It depends on the size of the cake you are making. For one quantity of the recipe bake at 160C for approx 30 minutes and then check it every 10.

  7. Hi Ann

    Im planning to make your doll cake using this chocolate cake recipe with layers of chocolate mousse. Im planning to use fondant to cover the cake so will I need a layer of buttercream on top of the cake to make sure the fondant sticks to the cake properly?

    Thanks in advance 🙂

  8. um i dont have a slow oven so if i was to do it in degrees what
    would the temp and time

  9. Hi Ann!
    I love watching your videos. Just want to ask what frosting did you use for your chocolate cake?

    Thanks!
    Ann

  10. I’m LOVING your website and especially the video tutorials! I’ve been inspired to make magical cakes for my kids again. You mentioned you have tried this with gluten free flour – they vary greatly – which brand did you test with?

    • Hi Reese, I use white wings or orgran gluten free flour.

  11. Can i use this recipe for your princess cake?Thanks!

    • Yes you can but this cake takes longer to cook than the vanilla cake so you need to be careful it does not overcook on outside before it is done in the middle. If so you can insulate the sides with some alfoil.

  12. Hi there Ann. I am dying to try you chocolate cake but how do I get my icing so shiny like yours? 🙂

  13. is it ok if i bake my cake in 180’c for 1 hour 30 min?

  14. What is caster sugar? Just starting to learn how to bake…lol…never heard of this sugar…

    • Hi Chrissy, Caster sugar is the same as white sugar just ground into smaller crystals. It is not powdery like icing sugar though.

  15. Could this cake recipe be used for cupcakes? I’m looking for a good choclate cupcake recipe.

  16. Thank you for an amazing recipe and your patience in the tutorials……your website is a haven for novice bakers like moi…..

    • Hi Tina, Yummm! l love the cake and the chocolate bowl and berries on top. Glad you like the site, thanks for posting a comment and a pic – great job.

  17. Thank you … I must say this chocolate cake is one of the best we have ever tried and tasted, very moist and chocolatey, unlike most cake recipes that taste of flour … Keep up the good work, can’t wait to try out more of these recipes :0)

  18. Can you please tell me if you have a recipe for a Mars Bar cake? not the one with rice krispies in .. but a layer of mud cake then caramel the a bottom layer of mud cake

    Thanks

  19. Can it be baked in the microwave?

    • Hi Sadia, I would not put this one in the microwave – try the chocolate brownie recipe instead as that one can be done in the microwave https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/?p=1348

      • Thanks for the reply!

        I have finally figured out how to bake in my microwave conventional oven 😀

        • Ahh you have a microwave that is also an oven, now I understand – in that case it should work for you – how did it go?

          • Oh, I have been having exams lately so didn’t try it yet but will sure try it soon and post a pic here! 😀

  20. I want to thank you for your recipe, i will definitely do it, but i have one question to ask, here where i live we donot use margarine, but we have butter. so in this case will i be using the same amount of margarine, which is 1 1/2 cup butter or i should decrease the amount ? Please give me an answer because i am dying to bake this cake…
    Thanks and looking forward for your reply 🙂

    • Hi, Yes you can substitute the margarine for an equal amount of butter (preferably unsalted butter). Enjoy!

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