I made this cake a few weeks ago for a party and it was such a hit! I adapted this recipe from BBC Good Food’s Ultimate chocolate cake and it is fool-proof. I love recipes that doesn’t require the use of the mixer because it means one less thing to wash up later.

Nutrition per slice (one cake serves 14)

Ingredients for the cake

1. 130g unsalted butter
2. 150g dark chocolate (I used Lindt 90% dark)
3. 85g white self-raising flour
4. 85g white plain flour
5. 80g caster sugar
6. 80g brown sugar
7. 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
8. 25g cocoa powder
9. 3 eggs
10. 100ml buttermilk
11. 1/2 tsp salt
12. 1/4 bicarbonate soda
13. 125ml cold water

For the ganache

1. 220g dark chocolate (I used Lindt 70% dark)
2. 100ml skim milk
3. 30g unsalted butter
4. 1/4 tsp salt

Directions

Preparation time: 15min
Baking time: 30min or when the skewer comes out clean

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees and grease a 20cm square or round cake tin
2. Put the dark chocolate, butter, 125ml cold water and 1 tbsp of instant coffee granules into a bowl and melt it in the microwave. I usually do it in 30 seconds burst, stirring at each time
3. Leave the melted mixture to cool
4. Place the self-raising flour, plain flour, brown sugar, caster sugar, bicarbonate soda, salt and cocoa powder together into a mixing bowl. Using your hands to run through the ingredients – making sure that there are no lumps.
5. Beat the eggs together and mix in the buttermilk
6. Add the melted chocolate and egg mixture into the dry ingredients and mix it well
7. Pour the cake mixture into the cake pan and then bake it in the oven for approximately 30min or when the skewer comes out clean
8. Leave the cake to cool down
9. To prepare the ganache, heat up the milk and butter and salt together in a saucepan. Remove it from the heat just before it starts to boil
10. Pour the heated mixture over the chopped up chocolate and mix well until all the chocolate has melted
11. Let the ganache cool down slightly before pouring it over the cake. Using a palette knife, smooth out the ganache