BLACK MAGIC CHOCOLATE CAKE

230 g cake flour
70 g cocoa
400 g castor sugar
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temp
230 ml buttermilk
1 tablespoon instant coffee dissolved in 230 ml hot water
115 ml oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate buttercream and ganache
200 g dark chocolate
2/3 cup cream
225 g butter
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 180º C. Grease and line 3 by 20 cm cake tins with greaseproof paper.

Make chocolate cake:
In a food processor, sift flour and cocoa together. Add sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk to combine. Make a well in the center and add eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and coffee. Mix on low speed for 90 seconds. Pour evenly into the 3 prepared baking tins.

Bake for about 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into middle of cake comes out with just a crumb or 2. Cool cakes in tins before turning out onto a wire rack, remove paper and cool completely.

Make chocolate Icing and ganache:

Start with the ganache. Heat cream and 200 g chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals until chocolate is melted and smooth. Don’t overheat. It should be smooth and glossy. Let this come to room temperature before proceeding.
Beat butter, cocoa and half the icing sugar on medium speed for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl to make sure everything is well mixed.

Add remaining sugar, salt and vanilla and beat until it’s all combined.
Add half of the ganache mix to this buttercream mix and mix until combined and smooth.

Assemble cake by placing one cake on your serving board, top with a third of the icing. Top with another cake and top again with a third of the icing.
Add your last layer of cake and top with remaining icing. Top with the remainder of the ganache and finish off as desired.

I made a lace border with melted chocolate, and made “cheat” macarons which are basically little chocolate meringues sandwiched together with ganache.

YUM!!

CHOCOLATE BISCOFF CHEESECAKE CAKE

I made an amazing cake for mother’s day this year, using the Lancewood Cheesecake mixture with the black magic chocolate cake recipe I have posted earlier.

one standard black magic chocolate cake recipe
200 g Biscoff cookies
80 g butter melted
2 tablespoons Biscoff butter
1 tub Lancewood cheesecake mix ( see photo)
extra Biscoff butter for drizzling
“ cheat” macarons for garnish

I made the black magic chocolate cake, but baked it in 2 x 20 cm cake tins instead of 3.
Crush the Biscoff cookies and mix it with the melted butter to form a crust for the cheesecake.
Set the cookie crumble in the third 20 cm cake tin.
Prepare the cheesecake according to the instructions on the cheesecake tub. (See picture, so so easy)
Add 2 tablespoons of Biscoff butter to the cheesecake mixture and swirl it through the mixture before pouring it onto the crust and baking the cheesecake according to the instructions on the container.
Remove the cheesecake from the oven when it’s baked through and let it cool completely before placing it in the fridge overnight.
Use the chocolate buttercream and ganache icing from the cake recipe to spread between the cake and cheesecake layers before assembling the layers.
The next day, layer the cake first with one chocolate sponge, secondly the cheesecake and thirdly the last chocolate sponge with the icing in-between the layers.
Use some more of the icing to spread on top and around the cake as well as melted Biscoff to drip over the cake too.
Finish off with the “cheat” macarons (don’t look the best but taste amazing!!), filled with dark chocolate ganache and another ganache I made with a 3 to 1 ratio of white chocolate to cream into which I added a tablespoon of Biscoff… So so yummy!!
Have a go at this rich cake, but oh so tasty!!

Recipes and photo’s : Dalila De Barros Viljoen