By Natalie, Lil' Cookie
In
one of the diners we stopped at United States, we pondered a bit about the desserts.
Our waitress so enthusiastically recommended their chocolate cake that
we simply could not refuse. A huge slice of amazing American chocolate
cake was coming our way! That chocolate cake was soft, damp, dark and
absolutely amazing. Layered with rich chocolate buttercream, it was
simply excellent.
When we left, it was clear to
me that I had to try to make a similar chocolate cake when we get back
home. This American chocolate cake is made of two layers of soft
chocolate cake filled with luscious chocolate cream. I decided to make
the cake with dark chocolate ganache cream instead of chocolate
buttercream in order to make the frosting a little less “heavy”.
Chocolate lovers – this cake is dedicated to you.
Ingredients
For the chocolate cake:
- 4 large eggs
- 300 grams sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 400 ml. sour cream
- 125 ml. vegetable oil
- 420 grams all-purpose flour
- 140 grams cocoa powder
- 10 grams baking soda
- 375 ml. lukewarm water
For the chocolate ganache:
- 400 grams of dark chocolate
- 375 ml. whipping cream
Instructions
Chocolate Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 170c degrees and grease the pan well.
- In a mixer bowl with a whipping attachment, whip eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla into an airy, light and somewhat foamy mixture.
- Add sour cream and oil and mix slowly at medium speed until they are absorbed in the mixture.
- Sift in flour, cocoa powder and baking soda and slowly mix until almost uniform.
- Add water and mix slowly at medium speed until you get a completely uniform batter.
- Pour the batter into the pan.
- Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes or until it is very swollen, steady to the touch and a skewer inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.
- Cool completely at room temperature.
- Using a long, serrated bread knife, straighten the top of the cake if necessary and slice the cake into two equal layers.
Chocolate ganache:
- Chop the chocolate and put in a bowl.
- Add cream and melt together in the microwave or over double-boiler until everything melts and you get a uniform and shiny chocolate ganache.
- Cool the ganache for 4-5 hours at room temperature until it reaches the texture of a thick paste. You can speed it up by cooling in the refrigerator and mixing every few minutes.
Assemble the cake:
- Place the first layer of cake on top of a serving plate and pour about 1/3 of the ganache on top of it. Surfaces it in a uniform layer using a palate knife.
- Place the top layer of the cake over the ganache and cover the cake with almost the remaining ganache - sides and top – in a uniform layer.
- Transfer the remaining of the ganache into a piping bag fitted with 1 cm serrated piping tip and decorate the top of the cake with chocolate ganache.
- Serve the cake at room temperature, so it is at its best texture.
Recipe Notes
- Keep the cake in a closed container for up to a week.
- It is recommended to remove the cake from the refrigerator to room temperature about an hour before serving.Instead of sour cream, you can use coconut cream in the same amount as the cake itself.
- You can add nuts or shredded coconut to the cream.
- The cake is delicious even without the chocolate ganache.
