Chocolate Mud Cake

Oh! Hey! It's New year again! Time flies so fast and I'm a winner in procrastination last year. :(

You know what, as much as I want to vent about the past, I won't talk about it anymore and I'm just going to do it. Yes, just like Nike's trademark.

So for the first month of 2018, I asked my sister who celebrated her birthday last January 6, what cake does she like to have. She just simply told me "chocolate cake! :)" And I thought, "What? Does she like airy and wiggly cake like chiffon or sponge? Or a moist and rich cake?" Well a baker probably could relate to me but my sister is not at all interested on being one (or not just yet). She rarely cook and if she does, its a half cooked veggies. (she's a health buff anyway :)) So, I just chose one on my "to try" list and that is Chocolate Mud Cake. I heared a lot of it in a facebook group that I joined last year that this is their "go to" recipe for fondant bases. Its a rich, moist and dense cake that can handle fondant decors' weight.

I came upon this recipe from bestrecipes.com.au and it has a lot of raving reviews! I'm so excited to try this and I planned on decorating the cake like this.

Sorry for the poor sketch. What I just wanted to execute is a chocolate semi-naked drip cake with chocolate brushstroke decors and some ferrero/chocolate blocks on top. Also on the side, a white chocolate block with "Happy Birthday" written on it. But when I baked the "best and easiest mud cake", it didn't rise as much as I expected so no more semi-naked cake for me. :(

Though it didn't went out as what I have planned, It came out quite neat and it feels so good to look at :)) (Pictures at the top are the same cake, the latter is just decorated with chocolate sails, brushstrokes and some reeses)

As for the chocolate mud cake, yes it is a rich, moist and dense cake but, I would like my cakes at least 3inch tall. Maybe next time I'll add baking powder in it. The only difference of this recipe to the original is, I put 1 cup milk and 1/2 water while on the original it just states 1 and 1/2 cup of hot water.

Chocolate Mud Cake Adapted from bestrecipes.com.au

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  INGREDIENTS:

• 250 g butter, chopped
• 200 g dark cooking chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cups hot water
• 1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
• 2 eggs lightly beaten

For the Ganache:

• 200 g Heavy Cream or All purpose cream
• 400 g Semi-sweet Chocolate, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a saucepan over low heat melt together, butter, cocoa, chocolate, sugar, vanilla, milk and hot water.
2. While cooling the chocolate mixture, preheat the oven at 150°C or 302°F and line two 8inch round with parchment paper. Line also the sides. (You can also use just 1 pan but make sure to line the sides with extra height.)
3. When the chocolate mixture is cooled, add flour and eggs then mix well. The mixture will be very runny.
4. Pour into the pans and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the Ganache:

1. Place cream in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
2. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolates and let them soaked for a minute then mix. Heat the mixture again on a low fire if there are still chocolates that are not melted. Be careful not to burn the chocolates.
3. Immediately place a clingwrap over the ganache then let it cool overnight.

ASSEMBLY:

1. Separate some ganache for dripping and some for icing the cake. (I just eyeball it how much I used for the dripping.)
2. Whip the ganache for icing until the color lightens.
3. Place the cake over a cake board or a plate then frost it with the whipped ganache.
4. Pour the ganache for dripping over the cake then put some chocolate garnishes like brushstroke and sails. Or just put your favorite eating chocolate(ferrero, reeses, kisses, etc..) for decoration.