My Favourite Chocolate Cake Recipe

I love chocolate cake. I would eat it every day if I could (no, seriously, I would). There’s a catch though, I don’t just love any old chocolate cake. I love this chocolate cake. Yep this one right here, it’s rich yet light, fluffy and moist and just simply delicious. I’m sharing the recipe with ya’ll because I’m in that kind of mood (and also because google search tells me you guys have been searching for it). So here it is!

Molly Bakes Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients

100g cocoa powder (I like Green & Blacks as it gives off the richest flavour)

400g self raising flour*

2tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

250g unsalted butter, room temperature

400g caster sugar*

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs

350ml buttermilk

*For American & non-UK readers (howdy! **waves**), self raising flour is just cake flour and I don’t think you guys have caster sugar, so just use granulated and obvs bicarbonate of soda is just baking soda.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F). Grease and line x3 or x4 20cm (8″) round cake tins (depending on how many layers you’d like your cake to be). Set aside.

Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a mixer or with a hand held whisk, beat the butter until pale and creamy. Add the sugar gradually and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract.

Add the eggs one at a time and drop the speed to medium. Leave a gap of one minute between each before adding the next, remember to scrape down the sides as you go.

Add a third of the flour and mix on low speed until just combined, then add half the buttermilk. Repeat this step, beginning and ending with the flour.

Divide the mixture equally between the prepared cake tins. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 mins or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre of each cake comes out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Once completely cooled, wrap the cakes in cling film (plastic wrap) and place in the fridge to chill. It’s much easier to ice a layer cake that is chilled, just keep it at room temperature until serving time.

For the buttercream

Ingredients

250g unsalted butter, room temperature

500g icing sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

200g dark chocolate, melted (I always use at least 70% cocoa solids)

Beat the butter on high speed until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the icing sugar and beat until well combined and the mixture is smooth and creamy. Mix in the vanilla extract then the melted chocolate. Once the mixture well combined with the chocolate you can use straight away to ice your cake.

We’ll do a step by step tutorial on how to ice a layer cake with buttercream really soon!

Pics by Zoe Flammang

How to Make Professional Looking Chocolates Using Moulds

Moulded Chocolates

For the shiniest chocolates in town, you need to get learning some moulding techniques. The process is simple enough but it can be tricky to get right first time round and takes practice. Polycarbonate moulds are the best type of mould to use and a worthy investment if you want your chocolates to look as good as the ones that are gift boxed.

You will need;

450g chocolate of your choice, callets or chopped

Ladle or large spoon

Spatula

Scraper

Large plastic bowl

Sheet of parchment paper

Praline mould

Ganache filling of your choice

Melt and temper the chocolate following this method. Lay down a sheet of parchment paper on a work surface or table ready to catch drips. Using a ladle or a large spoon to pour the chocolate liberally into the mould.

Scrape the spill over of chocolate off the top and sides of the mould. Bang the mould on the work surface to remove air bubbles. Turn the chocolate filled mould upside down over the plastic bowl and allow the chocolate to pour out. When the pouring slows down, use the scraper to to tap the side of the mould to make more chocolate pour out.

Once all of the excess chocolate has poured out of the mould it will leave a thin coating of chocolate around each cavity. Scrape the mould clean with the scraper working towards you and set the mould aside for the chocolate to set.

Once set, pipe ganache or filling of your choice into each mould filling almost to the top and leave to set.

Pour a new layer of chocolate over the mould, scrape the mould again to remove the excess chocolate and tap the side of the mould to release any air bubbles. Scrape the top of the mould clean and set aside for the chocolate to set.

Once set check that the chocolate has retracted from the mould, if you look on the underneath of the mould it should have turned a silvery colour where the chocolate has set. Turn the mould upside down and tap gently on the work surface so the chocolates fall out.

For Easter egg moulds, apply the same technique but repeat with two or three coats of chocolate for a nice thick shell. Each mould will make half a shell. Fill one side of each shell with your chosen filling (optional) and leave to set. Once set pour some remaining melted chocolate into a piping bag, pipe round the outline of one shell half and place the two shells together. Leave to set before removing the egg from the moulds.

Taken from my book Chocolate (Square Peg, 2014)

Chocolate Scented: I Love… Cosmetics

Who would have thought cakes and chocolates would be so popular with beauty brands? When I started my business almost six years ago I expected I’d be forever making cupcakes for kid’s parties. Nothing wrong with that I might add but there’s only so many Spongebob or Peppa Pig cupcakes a girl can make.

So it’s lovely that we have built a loyal client base of beauty and fashion brands over the years. One of the best things about working with beauty brands is that we get asked to concoct unusual recipes and flavours based on their products. That’s where we can get really creative!

A few weeks ago our client I Love… Cosmetics asked us to create some chocolates inspired by their new chocolate scented products – Minty Choco Chip and Choca Moca Lala. I’m sure you can guess what these were. The products are equally as delicious as our chocolates and not at all sickly as you might expect from chocolate scented bath products. And what’s not to like about bathing in chocolate? If you can’t afford an £80k chocolate bath surely these are the next best thing?

Scroll down for a couple of recipes for the Mint Chocolate and Mocha ganache that we used to fill these divine chocolates.

Mint Chocolate Ganache Recipe

Makes enough to fill a 28 cavity chocolate mould or for 40 hand rolled truffles

Ingredients

200g white chocolate, chopped or callets

180ml double cream

1tsp peppermint extract (or more to taste)

mint green food colouring paste (optional)

Weigh the white chocolate into a medium sized heatproof bowl and set aside.

Place the cream in a small jug or bowl, add the peppermint extract to the cream in and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours to infuse.

In a small saucepan, bring the cream to the boil. Let the cream cool for a few minutes then pour over the chocolate and mix together until the chocolate has fully melted and combined with the cream. If using add the food colouring using a cocktail stick. Start with a tiny amount – less is more – until you achieve your desired shade of mint.

Transfer the mixture to a piping bag, the refrigerate until firm and ready to use.

You can use this ganache to pipe into chocolate moulds or make hand rolled truffles, techniques for both coming soon so keep following. You can also use this ganache recipe as icing for a cake and as a topping for cheesecakes or ice cream.

Scroll down for Mocha Ganache Recipe

Mocha Ganache Recipe

Using milk chocolate in this recipe gives the ganache a creamier and sweeter taste just like your favourite mocha.

Ingredients

Makes enough to fill a 28 cavity chocolate mould or for 40 hand rolled truffles

200g milk chocolate, chopped or callets

180ml double cream

1tsp coffee extract

1tsp instant espresso powder

Weigh the white chocolate into a medium sized heatproof bowl and set aside.

Place the cream in a small jug or bowl, add the coffee extract to the cream in and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours to infuse.

In a small saucepan, bring the cream and the coffee powder to the boil. Let the cream cool for a few minutes then pour over the chocolate and mix together until the chocolate has fully melted and combined with the cream.

Transfer the mixture to a piping bag, the refrigerate until firm and ready to use.

You can use this ganache to pipe into chocolate moulds or make hand rolled truffles, techniques for both coming soon so keep following. You can also use this ganache recipe as icing for a cake and as a topping for cheesecakes or ice cream.

These recipes have been adapted from my second book Chocolate (Square Peg, 2014)

Gorgeous images by Zoe Flammang

How to Temper Chocolate

Tempering chocolate may sound like a finicky process but once you get going it’s a sheer delight to watch this delicious ingredient go from dull callets to a beautifully silky, smooth and shiny liquid. It’s also a really important process that will ensure your chocolates look and taste stunning.

Chocolate is made up of temperature sensitive crystals, the purpose of tempering is to stabilise these crystals. Untempered chocolate is grainy, matte and can bloom – this is when the chocolate develops unattractive white specks caused by bad crystal formations. Properly tempered chocolate is shiny and has a lovely snap when you break or bite into it.

This is also where the importance of using a good quality chocolate comes in, couverture chocolate is best as it has a higher cocoa butter content and is designed for melting and dipping. Regular chocolate won’t temper as well. The finish won’t be as polished and the chocolates may crack or look waxy.

The process of tempering is to break down the crystals by melting the chocolate to a certain temperature, then forming them back together by cooling it back down and stabilizing the chocolate by bringing the temperature back up a few degrees.

The most traditional way to temper chocolate is to use a marble slab, but that’s not something that everyone has laying around at home. There are also tempering machines which do the whole process for you, however unless you are planning on starting a chocolate making business this is an expensive process, as the machines cost a few thousand pounds.

Seeding

The easiest tempering method for the home baker or chocolatier is called seeding. This is when you add unmelted chocolate callets to melted chocolate to bring the temperature down. It’s the easiest way to temper small amounts of chocolate up to 1kg.

Callets, are small pieces of chocolate that are designed for melting. They are like chocolate chips in size but more flattened and symmetrical almost like miniature buttons. Most couverture is sold in callet form. You can buy chocolate callets from specialist chocolate suppliers.

When melting or tempering chocolate I normally use callets. If using a bar of chocolate it’s best to chop it into small pieces so it will melt more easily and evenly. You won’t use all of the chocolate but it is best to have extra for ease of dipping and to maintain the temperature. Any unused chocolate can be remelted at a later date but must also be retempered.

How to correctly melt and temper chocolate using the seeding method

You will need;

a chocolate thermometer

450g of chocolate, callets or chopped.

Place 300g of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat 5cm of water in a pan and place the bowl of chocolate over the top, ensuring the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Allow the chocolate to melt slowly until the temperature reaches;

45-50 degrees for dark chocolate

40-45 degrees for milk chocolate

40 degrees for white chocolate

As soon as the temperature is reached remove from the heat. Add the 150g of unmelted chocolate into the melted chocolate. Stir the chocolate together until the temperature reaches;

28-29 degrees for dark

27-28 degrees for milk

26-27 degrees for white

This will take 5-7 minutes. It’s important to keep stirring during this process and getting as much air as possible into the chocolate will help cool it down quicker. You can place a small bowl of ice or cold water underneath the bowl of chocolate to help cool it down quicker.

Now you need to increase the temperature but only by a few degrees so take care. Place the chocolate back over a bain marie on low heat until the temperature reaches;

31-32 degrees for dark chocolate

29-30 degrees for milk chocolate

28-29 degrees for white chocolate

Now your chocolate is tempered and ready to use. When working with tempered chocolate it’s best to keep it in temper especially if you are not using it all in one go ie. if you are making lots of different things or dipping. You can place a bowl of hot water underneath it to keep it warm and within the above temperature range. Keep a thermometer in the chocolate so you know what temperature it is at. If it begins to drop in temperature, place it back on the heat for a few seconds or so. If it begins to get to warm place it over a bowl of cold water.

If the chocolate does drop too low in temperature and begins to set, the tempering process will have to be started again from scratch. If you overheat the chocolate, don’t worry, as long as it hasn’t burnt you can let it cool back down and restart the tempering process.

Tempering tips;

Don’t try to temper too much chocolate in one go, it can be very overwhelming.

Take care not to allow any steam or water into the bowl of chocolate as this will either cause the chocolate to seize or prevent correct tempering. Use a low heat to avoid over steaming. It’s also a good idea to keep some paper towels handy.

Although we don’t use this method in our bakery, you can also use a microwave, if you have one, for melting the chocolate taking care not to let it burn or overheat. Microwave the chocolate at 30 second to 1 minute at a time taking the temperature at each interval. As it gets closer to the temperature take greater care and microwave it for less time.

If you make chocolates often enough you may consider investing in a small bain marie for the home.

Taken from my book Chocolate (Square Peg, 2014)

Fondant Filled Easter Eggs Recipe

Easter is just a week away and these are great treats to make with kids, you can mix up the sizes if you wish. This recipe makes enough for 12 small eggs or one large egg. The filling is a fun surprise when unsuspecting guests crack into an egg.

Ingredients

For the fondant filling

200ml golden syrup 100g unsalted butter, at room temperature

325g icing sugar, sifted

1⁄4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla bean paste Yellow food colouring paste

For the coating

450g plain chocolate,

chopped, or callets

12 x 5.5cm Easter egg moulds or 1 large mould

2 piping bags

Makes 12 small eggs or 1 large egg

Method

For the fondant

In a medium bowl, whisk together the golden syrup, butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until well combined. Place a quarter of the mixture in a small bowl and mix in a tiny amount of food colouring, bit by bit, until you reach the desired colour of an egg yolk. Refrigerate both mixtures for 30 minutes.

For the coating

Melt and temper the chocolate. Fill the egg moulds with the melted chocolate, following the technique for moulded chocolates and saving any excess chocolate. Leave to set, then fill the egg moulds once more to give a nice thick shell of chocolate. Leave to set again, then remove the chocolate shells from the moulds. Each chocolate mould will make half an Easter egg shell.

To Assemble

Remove the fondant mixtures from the fridge. Spoon the white and yellow mixtures into 2 separate piping bags with the ends snipped off. Pipe the white fondant into 6 of the chocolate moulds, filling them to about three quarters of the way up.

Pipe a blob of the yellow mixture into one half of each mould.

Using a hot knife or spatula, warm the surface of a mould, then place another mould on top to seal and make a complete Easter egg shell. Repeat with the remaining moulds.

Taken from my book Chocolate (Square Peg, 2011)