Posted in Desserts
If you've ever referred to yourself as a "chocoholic," this one's for you — treat yourself (or friends, sure) to this rich, fudgy chocolate cake, thickly frosted in the most delectable ganache.
Prep:
15 mins 
bake:
30 mins 
cook:
10 mins 
Preheat the oven to 200°C conventional, or 180°C fan-forced. Carefully line a 20 cm round cake tin with baking paper. (This step is really important, because this cake has such a fudgy consistency and will otherwise stick to the pan.) Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the sugar and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the rice bran oil and milk. Add the dry ingredients and gently fold them through until well combined. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for about 30 minutes, until the side of the cake has come away from the edge of the tin, the top isn't wobbly, and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave until almost cooled, then turn the cake out of its tin and place on a serving plate. To make the coconut cream ganache, melt the chocolate by placing it in a heatproof bowl, set snugly over a saucepan of simmering water, but not touching the water, stirring until smooth. Meanwhile, in a separate small saucepan, gently heat the coconut cream. You don't want to boil it – just bring it up to a nice warm temperature, so it won't set the melted chocolate when you mix them together.
Once the chocolate has melted, quickly whisk it into the warm coconut cream until well combined.
Scrape the ganache out of the bowl, onto the cake, spreading it evenly all over. There is plenty of ganache, so it will be lovely and thick. A berry topping is highly recommended to balance the rich sweetness of this lovely cake – try raspberries and strawberries!Tip: This cake will be much easier to slice if you make and ice it the day before, and refrigerate it overnight. (This will also give it a more dense, moist texture!) Take it out of the fridge a few hours before serving so the ganache is nice and soft.
