Chocolate Fudge Cake

There were 2 upcoming birthdays and I thought of baking a cake that would be a crowd pleaser. Immediately Nigella came to mind. Nigella always reminds me of a good ol' chocolate cake and with her recipes, you will usually be spot on ;)

Incidentally, I have a few chocolate cakes from Nigella's collection that I have bookmarked for a long time. Now I'm able to bake this recipe from Nigella Bites. I'm delighted and hope the cake will turn out well. Please see my modifications in blue.

Cake ingredients:

• 400 grams plain flour
• 250 150 grams golden caster sugar
• 100 50 grams light brown muscovado sugar
• 50 grams best-quality cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 142 ml sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 175 grams unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
• 125 ml corn oil
• 300 ml chilled water

Fudge icing

• 175 grams dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
• 250 grams unsalted butter (softened)
• 275 180 grams icing sugar (sifted)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/350ºF. I used 160 degrees celsius instead.
2. Butter and line the bottom of two 20cm / 8 inch sandwich tins. I poured the batter equally into 3 round sandwich tins instead.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb and salt. 
4. In another bowl or wide-necked measuring jug whisk together the eggs, sour cream and vanilla until blended. 
5. Using a freestanding or handheld electric mixer, beat together the melted butter and corn oil until just blended (you'll need another large bowl for this if using the hand whisk; the freestanding mixer comes with its own bowl), then beat in the water. 
6. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix together on a slow speed. 
7. Add the egg mixture, and mix again until everything is blended and then pour into the prepared tins. And actually, you could easily do this manually; I just like my toys and find the KitchenAid a comforting presence in itself.
8. Bake the cakes for 50-55 25 minutes, or until a cake-tester comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their tins on a wire rack for 15 minutes, and then turn the cakes out onto the rack to cool completely.
9. To make the icing, melt the chocolate in the microwave - 2-3 minutes on medium should do it - or in a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water, and let cool slightly.
10. In another bowl beat the butter until it's soft and creamy (again, I use the KitchenAid here) and then add the sieved icing sugar and beat again until everything's light and fluffy. I know sieving is a pain, the one job in the kitchen I really hate, but you have to do it or the icing will be unsoothingly lumpy. Then gently add the vanilla and chocolate and mix together until everything is glossy and smooth.
11. Sandwich the middle of the cake with about a quarter of the icing, and then ice the top and sides too, spreading and smoothing with a rubber spatula.

 

 

 

What do you think of my cake? I thought it was pretty rustic like Nigella's who doesn't excel in beautifully decorated cakes. For me, it is good because it looks pretty homemade in that case. A good tip for this is, you may want to crumb coat a layer of the fudge on the cake first and put it in the fridge to let it set for about 15 to 30 minutes. Thereafter, the fudge will go on the cake easily.

 

I thought the cake tasted pretty good just a tad dry maybe I didn't take out the cakes immediately. Apart from that, this cake is quite good. Next, I want to try the Devil's Chocolate cake from Nigella ;) You can tell I'm beginning to get more ambitious LOL!!

 

I'm submitting this post to Cook-Your-Books#26 organized by Joyce of kitchenflavours.

 

 

I'm also submitting this post to Simply Eggcellent #6 organized by Dominic of Belleau Kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post is linked to Little Thumbs Up (August 2015: Brown Sugar and Molasses) organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Jess from Bakericious.