Chocolate Mud Cake

So, I've been up to my elbows in cake this weekend, and the cake I've been making is this delicious chocolate mud cake. I've done something with it that I hope you'll think is pretty cool, but I don't have time to write it all up tonight so you'll have to wait for tomorrow for the exciting bit. However, this is a fantastic recipe, pretty hard to screw up and though it's a bit expensive to make it goes a long way (or can if you ration it ;-) ) as it's so rich and dense. It's a great wedding cake - I've made several using it and the friend I got it from did the same.

The first step is melting chocolate, sugar and butter with boiling water to make a chocolatey soup. The process looks pretty unappealing but you know with that set of ingredients the outcome has to be good, right? ;-)

Then you simply add the rest of the ingredients - making a yet-more-disgusting-looking mixture (and transfer it into a larger bowl because you were overly optimistic at the beginning and Tupperware and boiling water aren't the best of friends) and mix it until it's smooth. 

This is definitely easier with an electric beater - but this is the sort of recipe my splash guard is made for, you have been warned! Take it slooowly unless you are seeking new decor - I actually managed to get chocolate on our tiled splashback even using the splash guard on the bowl, so I don't even want to think about how much of the batter would have been outside of the bowl without it. ;-)

It is a really big mixture, and if your purposes require less feel free to halve it (either use two large or three small eggs, or try to get to around 150g of egg, as I believe 60g is about the assumed average per egg). If you don't have a bowl large enough use a large saucepan - just use a spatula to ensure there aren't any unmixed bits in the corners.

And that's as far as we go tonight. ;-)

Chocolate Mud Cake (makes 30cm round cake)
Ingredients
325g sugar
500g butter, cut into chunks
500g milk chocolate chips
750ml boiling water
325g flour
75g cocoa
20g baking powder
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 160 C, and grease a 30cm round cake tin (if you’re using a springform tin put a tray underneath, as the batter is thin and can drip).

Put sugar, butter and chocolate chips into a very large bowl, and pour the boiling water over the top. Stir to combine all ingredients. When everything is melted and combined, add all the remaining ingredients, and beat until smooth. Pour into cake tin and place in oven.

Cooking time will vary depending on your oven, but check after 50 minutes, and continue to check every 5-10 minutes until it’s done. You can tell if it’s cooked when a knife inserted into the cake comes out with a cakey-looking substance, as opposed to a batter-looking substance. If your knife comes out clean you’ve cooked it for too long.

After you remove the cake from the oven, leave it to cool for at least an hour before turning it out of the pan, as it will be very fragile while still warm.

Chocolate Ganache Icing
250ml cream
400g milk chocolate, broken into small pieces

Scald the cream in a saucepan on the stove (take it off the heat as soon as it shows signs of boiling). Add the chocolate and transfer into a bowl. Stir gently until all chocolate is melted. If necessary dip bowl into a saucepan of boiling water for a few seconds to help any remaining pieces melt.

Cool until spreadable, then use to ice cake.