Friday 4pm Chocolate Cake

I’m calling this cake the Friday 4pm Chocolate Cake because it’s exactly how it’ll make you feel 🙂 If you know, you know 🙂

This cake is light, chocolatey, moist and delicious, did I mention chocolatey? Topped with crumbled Flake, it’s pure nostalgia, like a homemade chocolate cake straight from your granny’s kitchen.

It doesn’t require a lot of your time, but it does like an audience. I really hope you make it, love it, and then make it all over again.

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ¾ cup (245g) all-purpose flour
• ⅔ cup (70g) cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup (200g) brown sugar
• ½ cup (100g) white sugar
• 2 eggs – must be room temp 
• ½ cup (125 mls) vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla essence 
• ¾ cup (180ml) full cream Greek yoghurt
• 1 cup (250ml) hot coffee – hot water and 2 teaspoons granulated coffee

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (make sure your rack is in the middle) and lightly grease 2 standard round cake tins. I also like to line the base of each tin with a circle of baking paper.
2. Make your cup of coffee and set it aside. In a medium mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add all the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and both sugars. Give everything a quick whisk to combine, or mix briefly in the stand mixer.
3. In a separate medium bowl or jug, whisk together the wet ingredients (excluding the coffee): eggs, oil, vanilla essence, and yoghurt, until well combined.
4. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and gently pour in the wet mixture. Mix using an electric hand mixer, or in a stand mixer on medium speed, until combined.
5. With the mixer running on medium-low speed, slowly pour in the hot coffee and mix until the batter is smooth and glossy. It will be quite runny but don’t worry 🙂 The coffee enhances the chocolate flavour, but you can just use hot water if you want.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 cake tins. I like to use a scale to weigh the batter so each tin has roughly the same amount, if you don’t have a scale, just eyeball it. Bake on the middle rack for about 28 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
7. Remove the cakes from the oven and place the tins on a cooling rack. After a couple of minutes, gently run a butter knife around the edges to loosen the cakes before turning them out. While the cakes cool, you can start making the icing. 

ICING INGREDIENTS:

• 230g milk chocolate 
• ¾ cup (180ml) whipping cream
• 1 tablespoons (30ml) golden syrup
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 
• ⅓ cup (80ml) sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. Chop your chocolate up nice and small then add it to a medium sized bowl.
2. Warm the cream and syrup over a medium heat until it just simmers, stirring occasionally., Do not let it boil. Pour it over chopped chocolate and let it sit for a couple of minutes before gently stirring until smooth and glossy.
3. Using a whisk, mix in the cocoa powder, then add sour cream and gently whisk until completely combined.
4. Let the icing cool for 15 minutes, then gently whisk again until lightened and fluffy. Don’t over-whisk it. Over-whipping will make it firm up too fast and it’ll become difficult to ice your cake. If the icing isn’t firm enough, pop it in the fridge for a couple of minutes to help it set.
5. Once the cakes have cooled completely, place the first cake layer onto a cake platter. I like to trim a thin slice off the top of this layer so the icing has a nice, even surface to stick to. Dollop some icing into the centre of the cake and spread it out evenly. Add the second cake layer on top, then use the remaining icing to frost the top and sides of the cake. Decorate the top with a crumbled up Flake. Yum!