Everyone loves chocolate, and as the festive season is fast approaching, log cakes and fruitcakes are being sold everywhere in Singapore. Instead of stressing out on where to get yours from, why not make your own cake? Eric Lanlard, the award winning master baking chef from BBC Lifestyle’s “Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard” shares his recipe for ‘Dark Chocolate Moelleux’ – a dark chocolate sponge cake filled with a rich chocolate buttercream and decorated with chocolate ganache.
Dark Chocolate Moelleux
Serves 12 to 14
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 40 to 45 minutes
Ingredients:
For the sponge cake
– 350g butter, softened
– 50g dark chocolate (use gourmet chocolate from places like Cold Storage or Marketplace)
– 350g golden caster sugar
– 50g black treacle
– 8 eggs, lightly beaten
– 300g self-raising flour
– 50g cocoa powder
– 2 tsp baking powder
– 50g ground almonds
For the ganache
– 200ml whipping cream
– 200g dark chocolate, chopped
For the chocolate buttercream
– 25g dark chocolate, chopped
– 200g icing sugar, sifted
– 100g unsalted butter, softened
– 1 tsp of vanilla extract
– 2 tbsp double cream
– Berries or dried fruits and nuts to decorate
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Then grease two 22xm diameter shallow cake tins and line them with baking paper.
2. Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.
3. In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the black treacle and eggs gradually, then add the melted chocolate.
4. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder, and fold them into the mixture with the ground almonds till you get a smooth, glossy consistency.
5. Divide the mixture between the two cake tins and level the tops. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool.
6. To make the ganache, heat the whipping cream in a saucepan and heat till warm. Remove from heat and add the chocolate, beating until melted and move. Leave to cool.
7. To make the buttercream, melt the chocolate as above and leave to cool. Cream the icing sugar and butter in a bowl until light and fluffy.
8. Beat in the vanilla, cooled chocolate and double cream to form a stiff spreading consistency.
9. To assemble the cake, level to top of the sponge cakes using a sharp knife. Spread the buttercream over the top of one sponge cake and place the other sponge cake on top of the cake with buttercream.
Pour the ganache over the cake and smooth with a flat knife and leave to set. Decorate the top with berries.
This recipe is originally by Eric Lanlard. For more information on Eric Lanlard, visit his website at http://www.cake-boy.com/. You can also follow him on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eric-Lanlard/254743271226573, or Twitter @eric_lanlard.
Eric Lanlard’s “Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard” airs every Monday from December 16, 2013 on BBC Lifestyle (StarHub Channel 432). For more information on the show, check out the programme’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BakingMadwithEricLanlard.
