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Perfect chocolate cake
Felicity's perfect chocolate cake
I really believe this is the ultimate chocolate cake - fluffy and light enough to eat at tea time, rich enough to serve with a dollop of creme fraiche for dessert if you'd prefer. Most importantly, it actually tastes of chocolate - and that's rarer than you might think.
Ingredients
- 50g dark chocolate, melted and allowed to cool slightly
- 250g butter, at room temperature
- 250g light muscovado sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 100g cocoa powder
- 250g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3 large eggs
- 250ml milk
- 50g chocolate chips
For the buttercream:
- 140g butter, softened
- 50g cocoa powder
- 200g icing sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp milk
- 5 Oreo cookies
Instructions
- Grease and line the bases of 2 x 20cm springform cake tins with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) 350F / gas 4. Cream together the butter and sugar with ½ tsp salt until light and fluffy
- Sift together the cocoa, flour and baking powder. Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time and beat until well combined, then fold in half the dry ingredients followed by the melted chocolate. Fold in the rest, followed by enough milk to give a soft dropping consistency, and then the chocolate chips. Divide between the two tins and bake for about 25–30 minutes until firm in the centre.
- Allow to cool completely on a rack, then make the buttercream. Beat the butter until fluffy, then add the cocoa, icing sugar and salt and, if necessary, a little milk to loosen the mixture. Put one of the cakes on a serving plate and spread a third of the icing on top. Place the second on top, then spread the rest of the icing over it.
- Blitz the biscuits to a fine crumb in a food processor and sprinkle them over the cake.
It's a contentious subject, but what's your favourite kind of chocolate cake: rich and dark, light and fluffy, Devil's food, Curly Wurly or Mississippi mud? Are you an icing or a ganache lover - or should a good cake come unadorned? And just why are so many chocolate cakes more a feast for the eyes than the stomach?