Name: Chocolate cake with fudge icing
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 8 - 10
Ingredients: 250 gm butter, diced, plus extra for greasing; 280 gm dark chocolate (58%-66% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped; 7 eggs, at room temperature; 100 gm caster sugar; 40 gm plain flour; 50 gm Dutch-process cocoa, sieved; Chocolate fudge icing; 300 ml pouring cream; 150 gm brown sugar; 20 gm Dutch-process cocoa; 200 gm dark chocolate (58%-66% cocoa solids), finely chopped; 50 gm butter, softened

Chocolate cake with fudge icing

This simple recipe is everything you want a chocolate cake to be: rich, dense and generously iced.

Serves 8 - 10

Prep

20M

Cook

50M

Total

1H 10M

Skip to Recipe

If you love chocolate, this cake is for you – it’s rich, dense and fudgy. We love to serve it with a glass of Pedro Ximénez as a seriously luxe dessert, but it’s also lovely for morning tea, lightened up with a dollop of whipped cream or crème fraîche and seasonal fruit.

Ingredients

250 gm butter, diced, plus extra for greasing

280 gm dark chocolate (58%-66% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped

7 eggs, at room temperature

100 gm caster sugar

40 gm plain flour

50 gm Dutch-process cocoa, sieved

Chocolate fudge icing

300 ml pouring cream

150 gm brown sugar

20 gm Dutch-process cocoa

200 gm dark chocolate (58%-66% cocoa solids), finely chopped

50 gm butter, softened

Method

1.Preheat oven to 200C. Butter a 22cm-diameter springform cake tin and line base with baking paper. Combine butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until chocolate melts (6-7 minutes), then stir to combine with a spatula. Remove from heat.

2.Whisk eggs and sugar in an electric mixer until thick and pale (5-6 minutes). Sift flour and cocoa over egg mixture and gently fold to just combine. Add chocolate and stir to just combine. Pour into prepared cake tin and bake, rotating cake once, until evenly risen and centre feels firm when lightly pressed (40-42 minutes). Place on a wire rack to cool in tin (15 minutes), then release sides of pan and stand to cool completely (2 hours).

3.Meanwhile, for chocolate fudge icing, whisk cream, sugar and cocoa in a saucepan until smooth, then bring to the boil. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate, then stand to cool, stirring occasionally (40 minutes to 1 hour). Beat in butter, then place over ice until it reaches a thick spreading consistency, giving it an occasional stir (15-20 minutes).

4.Carefully transfer cake to a plate and spread with fudge icing. Cake will keep stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Recipe / styling by Lisa Featherby

Styling by Emma Knowles