Chocolate Fudge Cake

Introduction & method

Chocolate fudge cake, sometimes known as death by chocolate, is a glorious chocolatey cake that will give your doctor palpitations. Not for every day, but now and again this is a very special treat.

Make the Cake Batter

You need to have soft, room-temperature butter before you start. Whisk together the butter and the sugar until you have a smooth and fluffy mixture. This process is known as creaming and is best done in a stand mixer although an electric hand whisk can also do the job, or a hand whisk and lots of elbow grease if you’re desperate. Now beat the eggs in, one at a time. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder together and fold them into the sugar and butter mixture. Stir in the golden syrup - if it's too cold to flow freely, stand it in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes. The cake batter will be very stiff, so stir in some milk, a bit at a time, until you reach a consistency where it will slowly drop off a spoon.

Bake the Cakes

Preheat your oven to 160°C (320°F) for a fan/convection oven, 180°C (356°F) conventional, gas 4. You’ll need two cake tins, both about 20 centimetres (8 inches) diameter. Grease them with butter or line them with parchment/greaseproof/baking paper. Divide the batter between the tins and smooth the tops. Bake for 30 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cake. If it comes out dry, the cake is done, otherwise give it 5 more minutes. Let the cakes cool in their tins for 5 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack and let them cool completely.

Make the Fudgy Icing

Mix together the sugar and evaporated milk in a small saucepan on medium-low heat. Keep stirring until you can feel the sugar has all dissolved. Bring it to the boil then turn down low and let it simmer for six minutes without stirring. While this is happening, break the chocolate into little squares, and cut the butter into small dice. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate and stir until dissolved. Then add the butter and stir that until dissolved. Stir in the vanilla then transfer the sauce to a bowl, cover with plastic film and set aside to cool and thicken.

Assemble the Cake

It's possible your two sponges will have developed domed tops during baking. Carefully slice the domes off with a bread knife. If you still have some tapering at the edge of the sponges, spread with apricot jam and break up the pieces of sponge you cut off. Arrange them around the edge to try to get the cake top as level as possible. Generously spread icing over the top of that cake and invert the second sponge over it. Spread more icing to fill any gaps btween the two sponges. Place in the fridge to set, about 15 minutes, then remove and thickly cover the top and sides. You can leave the icing quite rough if you like, or make it smoother and maybe use some cake decorating tools to make grooves in the icing.

The video above is from the Keef Cooks YouTube channel. Click here to see the video recipe of Chocolate Fudge Cake on YouTube.

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Ingredients & Info

CAKE BATTER

175 grams butter

175 grams plain (all-purpose) flour

175 grams caster (powdered) sugar

3 s egg

50 grams golden syrup

50 grams cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder
CHOCOLATE FUDGE ICING

150 grams dark chocolate (54% cocoa)

150 grams demerara sugar

60 grams butter

170 grams evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Makes 1 20cm (8 inch) cake
Prep time: 30 minutes.
Cooking time: 40 minutes.
Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes.

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