This is an incredibly rich, decadent chocolate cake. Perfect for the festive season. We added some frosting to it to lighten it up. Here are some tips: Use good quality dark (70%) chocolate since it's a big part of this cake and crucial for tasty results. And try not to over bake it as it will dry out the cake. Check it with a toothpick and if too much batter sticks to it, continue baking but if it's just a little dirty then it's perfect, because you don't want it to come out clean - that's all we're saying.

For this cake we used Donna Hay's Basic Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe and added a mascarpone frosting to it.

 

 

For the cake

 

250g unsalted butter, chopped

300g dark (70%) chocolate, chopped

2 tbsp dutch cocoa, sifted

½ cup (125ml) milk

6 eggs

1 cup (220g) caster (superfine) sugar

½ cup (85g) brown sugar

1 cup (150g) plain (all-purpose) flour

 

For the frosting

 

230 g mascarpone cheese chilled

1 cup confectioners sugar (feel free to use less like we did)

1 cup heavy whipping cream chilled

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tbsp vanilla extract

 

 

Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F) and lightly grease a 22cm round springform cake tin and line with non-stick baking paper. You can adjust the ingredients to your cake tin like we did. We made 2 smaller and 3 mini cakes from these ingredients.

 

Now that everything is ready, you can make the cake. For that you'll need a saucepan, a big mixing bowl, a baking spatula and an electric mixer.

 

Start with melting the butter and chocolate in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted and smooth. After that add the cocoa and milk and stir to combine. Set aside to cool slightly.

 

In a separate bowl place the eggs and both sugars and whisk with an electric mixer on high speed for 12–15 minutes or until pale, thick and creamy.

 

Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until just combined. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour and whisk until just combined.

 

Pour the cake mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour – 1 hour 10 minutes or until set. If you're baking in a smaller cake springform, the cake will be ready sooner, so keep an eye on it. The cake is ready when it feels set to the touch. If tested, a wooden skewer will not come out clean – the cake will set with a fudgy centre as it cools.

 

Allow to cool completely in the tin.

 

Now it's time for a nice smooth frosting. Since the cake is super rich, we felt it needed some lightness to. The mascarpone frosting is perfect because it holds it's shape and softness at room temperature and remains soft when refrigerated unlike buttercream frosting.

 

For this simple frosting place the mascarpone in a bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and start beating on medium speed. While beating, add the almond extract and vanilla followed by confectioners sugar. Scrape sides and continue beating until light and fluffy. DO NOT OVERMIX as it will cause the frosting to curdle.

With the mixer running on high speed, slowly add the whipping cream until the frosting becomes light and fluffy, about 1-3 minutes.

 

Spread onto cake, decorate festively and serve on our boards!