Triple Chocolate Celebration Cake by Hansells Baking
Cakes and Tarts
Serves: 20+
Ingredients:
150g butter
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon instant coffee
3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons Hansells Vanilla Essence
2 cups plain or standard flour
2 teaspoons Hansells Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Hansells Baking Soda
1/4 cup of Cocoa
DECORATION
Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Curls
Fresh cherries or raspberries
Icing sugar
Method:
Melt butter in a saucepan large enough to mix all the ingredients. Remove from heat and pour in boiling water, instant coffee and chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add eggs and vanilla essence and beat well with a wooden spoon until combined. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa into the saucepan and mix to combine. The mixture will be runny. Pour into a baking paper bottom lined 20 centimetre round cake tin. Bake at 180 degrees C for 1 hour or until an inserted skewer comes out clean or the cake springs back when lightly touched. Leave in the tin covered with a clean tea towel for 10 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack. Leave until cold. When ready to decorate, trim the top of the cake to flatten. Turn the cake over and use the bottom as the top of the cake. Spread with Chocolate Ganache, top with Chocolate Curls, decorate with fresh cherries or raspberries and dust with icing sugar.
DECORATION
Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup cream
1 tablespoon butter
175g dark chocolate
Place the cream and butter in a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Remove from the heat. Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Add the chocolate to the cream and stir until the chocolate melts. Leave until firm enough to spread. This can be done in the refrigerator if wished. If the mixture becomes too stiff, soften over warm water.
Chocolate Curls
100g dark chocolate
Melt the chocolate over hot water or in the microwave. Spread melted chocolate onto a marble slab, cold hard bench or other suitable surface. Leave the chocolate until it has hardened. It will lose its shiny appearance.Using a wide blade sharp knife held at a 30 degree angle to the chocolate, roll the knife along the chocolate to form curls. Use to decorate the cake.
Tips:
Allow mixture to cool slightly before adding eggs, otherwise you could wind up with scrambled eggs
Plain or standard flour should be used in this cake. High grade flour is heavier flour which should be used in bread making or dense fruit cakes.
Leaving the cake in the tin to cool for 10 minutes will make it easier to remove from the tin. Simply run a knife around the edge of the cake to help loosen it.
The melted chocolate to make chocolate curls can take up to an hour to harden.
Use good quality chocolate for this recipe. You do not need to use a cooking chocolate for this recipe, simply look for chocolate that contains real chocolate not compound chocolate.
