Chocolate Cake Recipe
This is a beautiful moist and delicious chocolate cake with the crunch of toasted pistachios and almonds on the side topped off with rich ganache and chocolate flowers. Perfect for Christmas or any other special gathering.
Chocolate Cake Ingredients:
Makes two 8inch (20.32 centimetres) round cakes or 24 cupcakes
200g (7.05 ounces) of 70% cocoa dark chocolate
315g (11.11 ounces) or 1 1/3 cups margarine or butter
8 large eggs
2 1/4 cups or 485g (17.11 ounces) caster sugar (super fine 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
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Chocolate Cake Recipe Directions:
Preheat the oven to 180C (356 degrees Fahrenheit).
Place chocolate and margarine into a bowl.
Melt in the microwave (30seconds, stir, 30sec, stir…).
Whisk in the sugar and then the eggs.
Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together and mix into cake mixture until just combined.
Pour into two lined 20cm (7.87 inches) round cake tins.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Test if its done by inserting a skewer into the centre, if it comes out clean it is ready. 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.
For the decoration
600 mL (20.29 fluid ounces) or 2 1/3 cup cream
2 tablesppons icing sugar
dash of vanilla essence
Whip the cream, vanilla and icing sugar until just thickened. Divide your bowl into half and then one half into thirds. Use one of these smaller portions between the layers. Add a generous spoon of ganache to the larger portion and mix in, use this to cover the sides of the cake.
100g (3.53 ounces) or 1 cup flaked almonds
100g (3.53 ounces) or 3/4 cup pistachios, chopped
Roast the almonds and pistachios on a tray in the oven at 180ºC or approx 5 minutes. Leave to cool
Press the nuts onto the side of the cake as shown in the video.
Ganache Recipe
300g (10.58 ounces) milk chocolate
100 mL (3.38 fluid ounces) or 1/3 cup cream
Break the chocolate and put into a bowl. Bring the cream to a boil and then pour over the chocolate. Leave to sit for a couple of minutes and then stir until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and leave on the bench overnight to firm up.
Use the ganache to decorate the top of the cake.
Chocolate Flower Tutorial
How to temper chocolate and what chocolate to use for chocolate decorations
by Ann Reardon How To Cook That
2014
My Cookbook
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All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.
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Hi, I would like to bake two 10inch round cakes, not two 8 inch. How much of ingrediants should I use to make this cake?
Hi Gabriele’, you will need about 1 and a half times the recipe. You will also need to adjust your cooking time.
The recipe indicates bake in slow oven, what is this in degrees celcius and for how long will it need to be in the oven?
Hi Ruth, Ann prefers not to give a specific time as ovens vary greatly. a Slow oven is 150–160°C (300–325°F) and if your oven is fan forced, you can drop the oven around 20 degrees celcius.
I really like your YouTube channel and you are really cool
Hi Ann best ever cake love it love it but I must be doing something wrong as it takes a long time to bake each time I do it & it’s starting to dry up each time, Any advice?
Hi Susan, Are you cooking it in 2 tins? If you want to make one large cake it will take a long time and need a lower temperature. We recommend baking it in layers. If you are using 2 tins,may be put a little less batter in each or cook 3 layers instead of two. Ann likes to do her cakes in layers as they cook relatively quickly and you reduce the risk of drying out.
Could I use the chocolate cake recipe with the chocolate italian meringue frosting? Or do you recommend a non chocolate one instead?
Hi Gemma, You could use that frosting. Choose one that suits your taste.
Hi S, Australian cups are used and they are metric. Ann recommends using the same weight. The cup measures are higher because margarine is often whipped and takes more space than the butter would.
Hi Kylie, Cup measurements vary from region to region so stick with the gram measurements. We use Australian Cups as a standard, It is worth noting that magarines vary in consistency and weight too. Some are very whipped and weigh less per cup. Others are heavier.
I made the cake and it was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fluffy.Yes I am 9 and I made it all by myself
Hi Raegan, That is lovely to hear.
I made the cake and it was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo light and fluffy.Yes I am 9 and I made it all by myself
I am in love with the taste of this cake. I have made this several times and it always is perfect. Als perfect for decorating with fondant.thank you for sharing this recipe
Thanks Nadyne, We love your make up case cake and make up decorations. They look so cute!
Are we not gonna preheat the oven???
Pls reply
Hi Emillie, the oven always needs to be preheated to the required temperature.
I want to use this cake for a 3 year olds birthday cake, I’m thinking the 70% cocoa dark chocolate might be too rich for a bunch of younger kids, would I be able to replace it with milk chocolate?
Absolutely Elle, go for it.
Is it possible to half the recipe ?
also, can you replace the margarine for butter?
Thanks
Anna
Yes i was also wondering if i could make this cake ahead of time and freeze it? The thought of baking a cake the day before my daughters birthday and it not working out is too stressful for me.
thanks
yes you can but it will need to defrost completely if you’re planning on using fondant 🙂
Hi Ann, I want to use this recipe to make Thomas train birthday cake for my 3 years old son. I just wonder if I can bake the cake and freeze it until I am ready to decorate the day before his birthday?
Thanks a lot, your website is amazing and very inspiring!
Cheeers,
May
Hi May, Cake is always better fresh, but you could freeze it if you need to. You can assemble the cake part and cover it with the buttercream and ganache mix. Then wrap the whole thing in plastic and freeze. Before decorating you will need to ensure that the cake is FULLY defrosted before you try to decorate it with the fondant or it just won’t work.
How many cupcakes does this recipe makes ?!
Hi Ahmed, It should make around 24 standard cupcakes.
Can I half this recipe but still use 200g of chocolate???
Hi Rosie, that will shift the texture of the cake. Ann hasn’t tested using a half batter and full chocolate, so we can’t advise how it will turn out.
Can I half this recipe to make a smaller quantity
Hi.
I made this cake to test it for my grandsons birthday next week. I have a question, is the 160 degree for a fan oven. I have a conventional oven and it took 40min to cook and was slightly heavy. I loved the taste and will be making it next week but I am thinking of slightly increasing the temperature. I would be interested in your thoughts.
Sue
Hi Sue, Ann uses a fan oven but it will really depend on your oven. You could easily up the temperature 10-20 degrees and see how it goes.
Hi Ann, the cake is simply awesome… It’s so soft that it just melts in the mouth… Thanks for the fantastic uploads…