Deep Dark Chocolate Cake From Cook Yourself Thin Recipes

DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE I

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 3 - 9 inch round cake pans. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spread batter evenly between the 3 prepared pans.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool.

DARK CHOCOLATE SHEET CAKE WITH DARK CHOCOLATE FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10x15-inch rimmed baking sheet and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
• Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
• Beat brown sugar, white sugar, and butter together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract. Add in 1/3 of the flour mixture, and mix until just combined. Add in 1/2 of the coffee and buttermilk, and mix until just combined. Continue alternating additions of the flour mixture with coffee and buttermilk, mixing just until combined. Pour batter into the prepared pan; smooth into an even layer. Tap pan firmly on the counter several times to remove air bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 25 minutes. Do not overbake. Place cake on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the frosting. Beat butter in a large bowl until completely smooth. Mix in cocoa powder, espresso powder, and salt until thoroughly combined. Mix in vanilla. Add in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Pour in heavy cream and beat until frosting is light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. If frosting is too thick, add more heavy cream.
• Spread frosting over the cooled cake.

CHOCOLATE CAKE FROM 'COOK YOURSELF THIN'

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 6-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep) with baking spray.
• Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on low speed until well combined, about 1 minute. With mixer running on medium speed, add warm water and beat until well blended. Add buttermilk, egg, oil and vanilla, and beat on medium for 5 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then unmold and cool completely on the rack.
• When ready to serve, place the bittersweet chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan set over medium heat until bubbles form around the edge. Immediately pour over chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute, then stir until smooth and well blended. Pour over cooled cake and spread to evenly coat top. (Chocolate sauce will drip down the sides.) Let set, about 10 minutes, and serve.

DEEP DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE FROM 'COOK YOURSELF THIN'

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Lightly spray an 8-inch springform baking pan with cooking spray.
• In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, ground almonds, salt and baking soda, and set aside.
• Using a standing or handheld mixer set at medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar for 4 full minutes until pale and fluffy. On low speed, beat in the grated beets, followed by dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk and coffee, and beat until the batter is smooth.
• Pour into the pan and place in the middle of a hot oven and bake for 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick inserted for doneness; it should come out clean. Bake for an additional 5 minutes if needed.
• Cool for 10 minutes or so in the pan and unmold onto cooling rack. Cool on a wire rack until cold.
• To make the icing, prepare a double boiler.
• Combine all the ingredients and gently stir until the chocolate is smooth. Stir occasionally until the mixture thickens.
• With the cake still on the wire rack, pour the icing liberally over the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides. Transfer onto a plate or cake stand for serving and garnish with rose petals.

DEEP, DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Arrange a shelf in the lower third of the oven, place a baking stone on it, and preheat the oven to 350°F/177°C.
• Spray VERY GENEROUSLY a 13 x 9 x 2-inch (33 x 23 x 5-cm) rectangular pan or two 9 x 2-inch (23 x 5-cm) round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom of the round pans with parchment and spray on top of the parchment. With the rectangular pan, line and extend up the long sides with a piece of Release foil or parchment sprayed lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a heavy saucepan, stir together the sugar, salt, cocoa, and baking soda. In another saucepan, bring 1 cup (237 ml) water to a boil. Stirring constantly, pour boiling water a little at a time into the cocoa mixture. It will bubble up at first and then get dark and thicken. Stir the cocoa mixture briskly. Place on the heat and bring back to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow to stand in the hot saucepan for at least 10 minutes.
• Pour the hot cocoa mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the oil and vanilla and beat on low speed for about 10 seconds. On low speed, beat the flour into the batter and then, with a minimum of beating, beat in the egg yolks, whole eggs, and buttermilk. This is a thin batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan or pans. Place in the oven on the stone and bake until the center feels springy to the touch, about 25 minutes for round layers or 35 minutes for the sheet cake. Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes on a rack. Run a thin knife around the edge and jar the edge of the pan to loosen. Invert onto the serving platter. Cool completely before icing.

DEEP DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Grease and flour one 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
• If you want a layer cake, use two 9-inch pans.
• In large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
• Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee (if making with instant, use 2 tsp to make 1 cup), oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Batter will be thin.
• Pour into prepared pan.
• Bake until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean (30-35 minutes for round pans, 35-40 minutes for rectangular pans).
• Cool 10 minutes; (if using 9-inch round cake pans, remove from pan) and cool on wire racks.
• Cool completely, then frost with your favourite vanilla icing.

BEETROOT CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE FROM 'COOK YOURSELF THIN'

Steps:

• Preheat a conventional oven to 160ºC, or a fan-assisted one to 140ºC. With the help of a brush and a tiny bit of sunflower oil, grease the surface of a round 20cm diameter by 8cm high loose-bottomed tin and set aside.
• Melt the chocolate gently in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until all dissolved, then set aside to cool.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar, the scraped-out vanilla seeds, the maple syrup and the honey for three minutes with an electric hand whisk until pale and quite fluffy.
• Gently fold in the flours, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cocoa and ground almonds until fully incorporated.
• Using some kitchen paper, dab the grated beetroot thoroughly to remove some of the excess moisture. Fold in the beetroot, cooled chocolate, coffee and oil with the help of a spatula until thoroughly mixed together.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and cook in the middle of the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes. After this time, cover the cake with foil and bake for another 30 minutes.
• Test the cake by inserting a skewer into the centre to see if it comes out clean (although this cake is so moist that even when the cake is fully cooked, the skewer comes out looking slightly messy). Leave to cool on a wire rack.
• To make the fudge topping, melt the chocolate gently in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, then remove from the heat and add the coffee and the vanilla essence.
• At this stage the chocolate will seize up slightly, but it will relax back once you add the honey and gently mix inches.
• Set aside to cool for 15 minutes before icing the cake. Cut the cake through the middle and ice it in the centre and on all sides.
• Decorate the top with whatever you fancy, but I like using pink flowers, such as tulips or roses, which I plant into the cake with a bit of stem left on.