Easy Chocolate Cake
This is a really easy chocolate cake to make and it is really versatile – use it to make cupcakes, tray bakes and celebration cakes.
Servings
12
Ready In:
1 – 2 hrs
Lever:
Beginner
Skills covered
Baking, Melted Method Cakes
Easy Chocolate Cake
By: Chloe Coker
This chocolate cake uses a really simple melted method so you can have it in the oven in 15 minutes and it is easy to make with kids. The yoghurt gives it moisture so it doesn’t dry out and it also freezes well. It is nice as cupcakes but also sturdy enough for celebration cakes.
Instructions
|
|
12-16 Cupcakes |
8” Round Cake |
|
Butter |
100g |
200g |
|
Dark Chocolate |
100g |
200g |
|
Vanilla Extract |
1 tsp |
1 tsp |
|
Water |
60ml |
120ml |
|
Self Raising Flour |
110g |
220g |
|
Cocoa Powder |
20g |
40g |
|
Bicarbonate of Soda |
¼ tsp |
¼ tsp |
|
Brown Sugar *just use more caster sugar if you don’t have brown sugar |
75g |
150g |
|
Caster Sugar |
100g |
200g |
|
Eggs |
2 |
3 |
|
Yoghurt |
40g |
90g |
*You can add orange zest for a chocolate orange cake or a shot of expresso for a mocha cake – just add the extra ingredients to the chocolate when you melt it
- Preheat the oven to 160*c. Line a muffin tin with cupcake cases / grease and line an 8” round cake tin
- Place the butter, chocolate, vanilla and water in a bowl and melt in the microwave or in a pan on a low heat
- In a separate bowl, sieve together the self raising flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda. Add the sugars and stir until well incorporated, making sure that you break up any lumps.
- In a jug, beat together the eggs and yoghurt
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and stir in the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture
- For cupcakes: half fill the cases with mixture (*it is better to make a few extra cupcakes than fill the cases too full) and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until well risen and cooked through.
- For a large cake bake for 1hr and 20 minutes.
You can pipe your cupcakes with buttercream or chocolate ganache. For a layered cake you can fill it with buttercream or chocolate ganache. For more of a gateaux style cake you can layer with cake with mascarpone cream and fresh berries / soaked cherries although note that if you fill the cake with a cream filling it needs to be refrigerated and eaten up quickly
BUTTERCREAM
To cover an 8” cake you will need:
200g unsalted butter
400g icing sugar
1 tsp good quality vanilla extract / paste
Place the ingredients in a bowl and whisk for five minutes until light and fluffy.
You can add flavourings to buttercream such as coffee, hazelnut essence, cocoa powder or melted white or dark chocolate.
CHOCOLATE GANACHE
200g dark chocolate
200g double cream
To make the ganache, finely chop the chocolate. Heat the cream in the microwave or bring it to just below boiling in a pan on the hob, then pour over the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to melt gently, stirring occasionally.
MASCARPONE CREAM
200g mascarpone
200g double cream
2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp good quality vanilla extract
Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until the cream holds its shape. Transfer the cream to a piping bag.
Tips, Tricks and Teaching Info
Line Your Tins & Preheat The Oven
Line your tins and preheat your oven before you begin as as soon as you mix together the wet and dry ingredients the raising agents will begin to work so you need to get the cake into the oven asap
Melted Method Cakes
This is a melted method cake. There is no whisking involved so the cake relies on the raising agents (self raising flour and bicarbonate of soda) to make it rise
Now you can make this chocolate cake
try another melted method cake such as sticky ginger cake