Death by chocolate

There is chocolate, there is Devil's chocolate and then comes so much chocolate that the cake is aptly named DBC or Death by chocolate. This is the first time that I made this cake at home, for my own birthday! The result was absolutely melt-in-the-mouth chocolate goodness. I must warn you though, this is only for serious chocolate lovers. The ingredients are more or less similar to Devil's chocolate cake, but the use of more liquids and baking at lower temperature on a lower rack for longer duration lends this cake very soft and delicate structure. The cake sponge is almost 'wet' to touch, but trust me, it is not.

I used a layer of chocolate frosting in the centre and went for a heavy cream ganache for the sides and the top. The use of ganache also makes the cake very heavy in weight. I used a few nutties, chocolate swirls and home made tempered-chocolate embellishments to decorate the cake.

Recipe coming up right away!

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cup flour

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

• 1/2 cup veg oil

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1 egg

• 3/4th cup buttermilk (1/4th cup milk, 1/4th cup curds and 1/4th cup water)

• 2 teaspoons instant coffee powder

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup boiling water

Method:

1. Butter and line an 8 inch cake tin, preheat the oven to 180 degrees

2. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder

3. Boil 1 cup of water and add butter and coffee and cocoa powder to it. Keep aside

4. In a mixing bowl, add oil and sugar and mix in

5. Add some of the dry ingredients to the sugar mix, followed by half of the water-coffee-cocoa mix.

6. Once the water mix is finished, add some flour and crack the egg. Gently fold in.

7. Top off with remaining flour.

8. Add vanilla extract, fold gently to ensure no lumps remain

9. The batter is very runny as compared to usual cake batters

10. Pour the batter in the cake pan and tap twice to remove any air bubbles

11. Bake for 35-40 minutes

12. Let the cake cool down for 5 min before demolding and cool down completely before icing

For the chocolate whipped cream icing:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whipping cream

• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 tablespoon icing sugar

Method:

1. Gently whip cream for 3-4 minutes

2. Add 1 tablespoon sugar and fold in

3. Delicately fold in the cocoa into the cream, add vanilla

4. Chill the cream before icing on the cake

For the chocolate ganache:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup full fat cream

• 1/2 cup chocolate - chopped to small pieces

Method:

1. Melt chocolate over a double boiler, stirring occasionally

2. Once the chocolate is completely melted, pour cream and keep aside

3. Stir in bring it all together to desired consistency

4. For assembling the cake, sandwich two layers of cake with whipped cream frosting.

5. Cover the sides and top of the cake with another layer of frosting and chill for an hour

6. Pour ganache on top and decorate with chocolate nutties or swirls