Chocolate Cake!!

As millions of people in this world, I'm a huge huge chocolate-lover. And so I've been looking around for a while for a good chocolate cake recipe.

So today I'm going to share with you one of the best chocolate cakes that I've had in a while. It's got the chocolatey flavor and sweetness just right, and it's nicely soft, moist and simply melts in the mouth.

I've sent some of this cake over to my husband's colleagues and a few others. The most surprising feedback I've got is from the people who are not so fond of chocolate. And even those who hate chocolate. They actually had seconds. So for me, this recipe is a keeper!

Chocolate Cake with a Glass of Chilled Milk

What makes this cake really flavorful, is dissolving the cocoa powder in hot water. That brings out both the aroma and a rich taste of chocolate which just won't let you keep your hands off this cake. This recipe has been tested twice, since I just couldn't get over the taste.

RECIPE ~ Chocolate Cake


Ingredients

• Sifted Cake Flour - 1 + 1/2 cups or 150 g
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 1/2 cup or 50 g
• Unsalted Butter - 200g + extra for preparing the pan
• Granulated Sugar - 200g
• Large Eggs - 4
• Boiling water - 6 Tablespoons
• Vanilla Extract/Essence - 2 Tsp
• Baking Powder - 1 + 1/2 Tsp
• Salt - 1/2 Tsp

Note: If you want to make a smaller cake, use 1 and 1/4 cups of flour with 1/4 cup of Cocoa, reduce the butter and sugar to 150 g each, use 3 eggs instead. Reduce other ingredients accordingly.

If you are unsure about cake flour, please refer to my post on flour: here.

Utensils & Bakeware

• Mixing Bowls and Spoons/Fork
• Hand Mixer/Stand Mixer
• 8x2" Round Baking Tin or equivalent
• OTG/Convection Oven - Regular or Microwave
• Cooling Rack or Tray
• Parchment or Butter paper.

Procedure

• Prepare all ingredients at room temperature.
• Cut the butter paper into a circle to fit the base of the baking dish.
• Prepare the baking pan by generously greasing the bottom and sides with butter. Then place the butter paper at the bottom of the pan and grease again with butter so it sticks well. Chocolate cake tends to be a little sticky, so the butter paper should help. 
• Powder the granulated sugar in a food processor/mixer-grinder if too grainy.
• Bowl - 1: Dump in the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and salt). Don't add the coco powder to this.
• Bowl - 2: Take the cocoa powder and slowly add in the boiling water, stirring to make a paste. Don't be worried if the paste is too thick. Allow it to cool.
• Whisk in to Bowl-2 the eggs one at a time, and then the vanilla extract. The liquid mixture should look like this.

• Cut the butter into pieces and soften with a fork.
• Using hand/stand mixer on low speed, mix the dry ingredients in Bowl - 1 for 30 seconds. Or just until they are well combined.

• Add half of the liquid mixture and all of the butter to the dry mix.
• On low speed mix until the dry ingredients are moistened.
• Switch to medium speed and mix for 1 minute to aerate and develop the cake structure.

• Stay at medium speed. Add the remaining liquid mix in 2 parts, mixing for 30 seconds after each addition. 

• Transfer batter to the prepared pan and smooth over the top with the back of a spoon. 

Baking Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F for about 15 minutes. You can set this just before you start the mixing process.
• Bake at same temperature for 55 to 65 minutes.
• Check for done-ness. A toothpick inserted at the center should come out clean. If it doesn't continue to bake until it does.
• Remove and allow to cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack.
• Invert cake onto a plate and allow to cool completely before serving.

Rising in the Oven. Smells absolutely Divine!

Chocolate Cake ~ Hot from the Oven!

Ah, just as all other cakes, the taste improves when left overnight. It sort of 'matures'. Just be sure to store it in an airtight container.

As always, I'm happy to hear from you!

This recipe is adapted from Joy of Baking: Chocolate Pound Cake.