Black Magic Cake

Fancy yourself a soft and moist chocolate cake covered in decadent buttercream and a layer of silky smooth ganache? Well then say hello to this Black Magic Cake.

Back in the day, my gran’s favourite box of chocolates was called Black Magic. I remember exactly what the box used to look like and what the chocolates inside smelt like. I was never a fan as a kid because I didn’t like dark chocolate, but if they were still around today I’d be all over them like white on rice.

This cake is pretty much like those chocolates. The sponge is dark in colour, bittersweet and soft, the buttercream sweet and enticing like the centre of a chocolate truffle. Then the dark chocolate ganache hits you with a hint of yummy bitterness like only dark chocolate knows how to do.

It’s really good, in fact a lot of people have messaged me to say that it’s the best chocolate cake they have ever tasted! I like that. It’s also not hard to put together, which is always a bonus, so give it a whirl.

*A lot of recipes for this cake are very similar, I just adapted a couple that I liked to make it my own 🙂

You can have a look at a bunch of my other recipes if like just by clicking here, I have something for everyone, I think 🙂

INGREDIENTS for a Black Magic Cake:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking soda/bi-carb
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 a teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk OR 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar in it (let it sit for 5 mins)
• 1 cup strong black coffee
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 and a half teaspoons vanilla essence

ICING INGREDIENTS:

• 200 g dark (70%) chocolate
• 2/3 cup cream
• 200 g unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• Salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 180°C (fan-assisted 160°C when not). Grease two standard-sized (23 cm) round cake tins.
2. In a mixing bowl add the flour sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt, and stir it all with a fork.
3. Then add the eggs, buttermilk (or milk mixed with lemon juice), oil and vanilla essence to a mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed using a handheld mixer or Kitchen Aid for a minute before slowly adding the hot coffee. Then mix for a further 2 minutes. The batter will be pretty thin, so don’t worry.
4. Pour the batter evenly into your two prepared pans.
5. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until a sharp knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
6. Cool for a few minutes in the pans before taking them out and cooling them completely on wire racks.
7. Make the icing.

DIRECTIONS FOR ICING:

1. The icing is made up of two parts, buttercream and ganache. We’ll start by making the ganache.
2. Finely chop up all the chocolate. Set aside.
3. Heat the cream in a small pot over low heat until it starts to boil. Remove the pot from the heat and then pour in all of the chopped chocolate. Make sure the chocolate is completely covered by the cream. Leave for a few minutes then stir into a smooth glossy ganache. Let it cool for a bit.
4. In a mixing bowl beat the butter, cocoa and icing sugar on a medium speed for about 4 minutes until light and creamy, scrape down the sides of the bowl every so often.
5. Add the vanilla essence and beat until well combined.
6. Separate your ganache in half. Add one-half of it to the buttercream and mix until nice and smooth.
7. Place one layer of your cooled cake on a serving plate and then spread about half the buttercream over the top. Place the second layer on it and then spread the remaining buttercream over the top.
8. Pour the other half of the ganache into the middle of the top layer of the cake (over the buttercream) then using a knife or the back of a big spoon spread it out into an even layer 🙂