World's Best Chocolate Cake
16 portions
90mWho doesn't like chocolate cake! This cake has great texture, rich chocolate flavor, and creamy ganache on top. This version, adapted from Ottolenghi's World's Best Chocolate Cake, is also served alongside a cinnamon espresso mascarpone whipped cream.
What you will need
1 cup Unsalted Butter
7 ounces Dark Chocolate Chips
1 ½ tsp Espresso Powder
1 ¼ cup Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 ¾ cups AP Flour
⅓ cup Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
7 ounces Dark Chocolate
1 Tbsp Light Corn Syrup
¾ cup Heavy Cream
1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
ESPRESSO CINNAMON MASCARPONE
1 ½ cups plus 1 tablespoon Heavy Cream
1/2 Vanilla Pod
¾ cup Mascarpone
2 ½ tsp Espresso Powder
¾ tsp ground Cinnamon
(Nutritional facts 372 calories, 26.27 g fat, 28.72 g carbohydrates, 5.79 g protein, 153 mg cholesterol, 165 mg sodium)How to cook
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Gather and portion the cake ingredients.
4
Set oven to 350°F
5
Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda to a sifter.
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Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
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Dissolve the espresso powder in boiling water.
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Add the chocolate chips and butter to a medium sized bowl.
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Pour the boiling coffee mixture over the chocolate and butter and stir until fully melted.
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Add the sugar to the coffee and chocolate mixture.
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Let the chocolate and coffee cool down a bit and whisk in the eggs.
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Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
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For this recipe, you can use one 9 inch round, or two 6 inch rounds for a layered cake. Fold a square of parchment paper into a triangle.
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Posititon the parchment triangle point in the center of the pan to measure the size and cut. Unfold the piece of parchment and use oil spray to stick it to the bottom of the pan. Repeat for both pans and spray the sides with the oil.
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Dust the pan with flour and tap to distribute and remove excess flour.
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Pour the batter evenly between the pans and bake for 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the pan.
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Gather and portion ingredients for the chocolate ganache.
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Set up a double boiler and begin melting the chocolate.
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Add the butter to the melted chocolate.
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Add the corn syrup to the chocolate and stir until butter is melted and the corn syrup is fully incorporated.
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Stir in the heavy cream until fully incorporated and glossy.
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Cover the chocolate ganache with plastic wrap and set aside to cool to room temperature.
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Gather and portion the ingredients for the cinnamon espresso mascarpone cream.
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Split a vanilla bean in half.
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Use the back of a knife to scrape the seeds out of the pod.
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Pour the heavy cream to a medium sized mixing bowl. Add the vanilla beans to the cream.
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Add the mascarpone cream into the bowl.
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Add the powdered sugar.
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Add the cinnamon and espresso powder to the bowl with the cream.
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Whip the cream to stiff peaks.
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Test with a toothpick or skewer. When it comes out clean from the center of the cake it is finished cooking.
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Turn the cake carefully out into your hand once mostly cool. Alternatively turn out onto a large plate. Then peel off the parchment paper.
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When the cake is fully cooled and the ganache is room temperature, pour the ganache over the cake.
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Add the cinnamon espresso mascarpone cream to each slice or to the top of the cake! Serve!
How to Melt Chocolate with a Bain Marie (double Boiler)
This will show you how to set up a double boiler, perfect for melting chocolate and making hollandaise, custard, and more! You do not need any special equipment for this technique, just a bowl that fits on top of a pot. The bowl just needs to fit on top of the pot without sinking in and touching the water inside.