JANUARY 27 is National Chocolate Cake Day, a day that celebrates the cake more people favour.
And more often than not, we celebrate our special occasions like anniversaries, birthdays and weddings with cake.
When it comes to food holidays, we know how to celebrate.
This one is no different. Have some cake. Share it with someone else.
Visit your favourite bakery and give them some credit, too. Or, if you have some mean baking skills, show them off.
Here are the recipes.
Chocolate mousse cake
INGREDIENTS
Cake
250ml cake flour
60ml cocoa
10ml baking powder
5ml salt
250ml sugar
4 egg yolks
125ml oil
125ml boiling water
5ml vanilla essence
4 egg whites
Chocolate mousse
200g milk chocolate
200g dark chocolate
500ml fresh cream
Ganache
200g milk chocolate
155g can of cream
METHOD
Cake: Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Mix in the sugar. Add the egg yolks, oil, water, and vanilla essence and beat until smooth.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold into mixture. Divide the mixture into two lined and greased 23cm cake tins and bake at 180ºC for 25 – 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Mousse: Melt together the chocolates and cream in a pot over low heat. Refrigerate overnight. Beat with an electric beater until mousse-like and use to sandwich cake together.
Ganache: Melt together the chocolate and tinned cream in the microwave. Allow to cool and when thickened pour over the cakes. Decorate with fondant roses and chocolate shards.
To make a cake like the winning one, you will need to triple the cake mixture and pour it into 3 x 25cm cake tins and 3 x 30cm cake tins.
You will also need to triple the quantity of the ganache to coat all six layers.
Recipe by Shaakira Yacoob
Chef Tharwat's one-bowl chocolate cake with ganache frosting
INGREDIENTS
For the cake
Dry
2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cup flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp bicarb
1 tsp salt
Wet
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
¾ cup vegetable oil (not olive oil)
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup boiling water
For the ganache frosting
350g good quality dark chocolate
350g fresh cream
Pinch of salt
METHOD
Preheat your oven to 180ºC.
Mix all the dry ingredients together first and then add the wet ingredients and mix at high speed.
Make sure to add the water last as it needs to be hot.
The mixture will look very thin, but it’s fine and it will be very moist.
Grease (spray and cook) two 23cm cake tins and pour the mixture over.
Before you bake, be sure to (gently) wrap the tins on the counter a few times to get rid of any excess air bubbles.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, test with a toothpick, when the toothpick comes out clean remove from oven
And allow cooling in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
For the ganache frosting
Heat up the cream to a simmering point not boiling, then pour the cream over the chocolate.
Mix chocolate, salt, and cream together until well combined and smooth. This is now ganache.
Allow the mixture to cool completely. All the way down.
Now whisk until light and fluffy you will see the colour change to a lighter hue of brown, this will be your indication to stop whisking.
Don’t over whisk as you will split the mixture and will have to start again.
Now it’s just the frosting of the cake and enjoyment.
Ouma Ann’s chocolate cake
INGREDIENTS
2 cups cake flour
1½ cups castor sugar
1 cup cooking oil
1 cup boiling water
2 tsp baking powder
6 tbs cocoa powder
8 eggs
METHOD
Preheat your oven to 180°C and grease and line one deep cake tin, or 2 smaller round sandwich cake tins.
Mix the oil and boiling water and set this aside to cool. Separate the eggs and place the yolks and egg whites into 2 large separate bowls.
Add the sugar and vanilla essence to the egg yolks and then beat them with a hand-held blender until they are thick and pale yellow.
Add the flour, cocoa, and baking powder and continue to blend. Finally, add the water and oil.
Using clean beaters, whisk the egg whites until they are thick and stiff, and then fold in the remaining teaspoon of baking powder.
Fold this into the chocolate mixture, keeping the batter light and airy.
Pour it into your cake tins and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a skewer, when inserted into the cake, comes out clean.
Note: You can ice and decorate it as you wish.
Recipe from ‘Pink Gin and Fairy Cakes’ cookbook.