The Ultimate Chocolate Dessert
This is the chocolate cake recipe you need in your back pocket: dense, moist, rich and coated in a decadent chocolate ganache. Feel free to decorate the top however you’d like—raspberries, strawberries, chocolate shavings, truffles—or leave it plain. To make easy truffles, put the leftover ganache in the fridge until it’s firm. Roll small spoonfuls into balls, and coat in cocoa powder.
Company Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
Cake
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus a tablespoon or two for the pan.
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks salted room temp butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Glaze
- 8 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter an 8-inch round cake pan. Cut out an 8-inch round piece of parchment paper, and place in the bottom of the cake pan. Butter the paper. Dust the entire pan with cocoa powder.
Sift cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
Cream together butter and sugar in a stand mixer. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Add the vanilla.
With mixer on low, pour half the flour mixture into butter mixture. Add the sour cream. Add the second half of the flour mixture. Place batter in prepared baking pan. Tap on counter to eliminate air bubbles.
Bake 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick pulls cleanly from the cake.
Cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Then, invert onto a wire rack. Cool completely in this ‘bottoms up’ position.
When the cake has cooled entirely, make the ganache. Bring the cream to a near boil in a small saucepan. Put chocolate in a metal bowl, and add the hot cream, whisking until smooth. Let cool until thick, but pourable, about 5 minutes. Pour glaze onto cake, coating evenly (use an offset spatula or back of a big spoon if needed to spread it evenly on the cake). Let the ganache cool and set completely.
Slice with a hot knife and serve.
Photographs by Madeleine Hill.
• Chocolate Pot de Creme
• Chocolate Bread Pudding with Creme Fraiche
• Christmas Fruit Cake
