Sunday 26 October 2008

Chocolate Mud Cake

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As I said in my last post I baked two cakes last weekend, but I've been so busy all week that I'm only just getting around to writing about the second one. Last Saturday I was invited to an informal dinner party and I promised to bring the dessert, so the night before I went through quite a few of my cook books to decide on what to make. In the end I decided to go with a tried and tested recipe for a wonderful chocolate cake, because I was pretty sure that most people do love chocolate cake and I wasn't wrong.

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The coffee and dark chocolate in the cake means it is not overly sweet and thanks to the orange juice it is also wonderfully moist. Of course using all that butter and sugar means it is not the kind of cake you want to eat while on a diet (if there is such a cake at all), but it definitely makes for an indulgent chocolate cake, which is worth forgetting the calorie count for once in a while. Don't let the childish name of the cake fool you, it's without doubt a cake that will also please the grown-ups!

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Chocolate Mud Cake

1 1/4 cup strong coffee
1/4 cup orange juice
175gr good quality chocolate, 70% cocoa solids (I use Green & Blacks or Lindt)
250gr unsalted butter
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla essence

In a sauce pan bring the coffee and orange juice to a simmer and add the butter and broken up chocolate. Stir until both have melted.

Add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved. Remove from heat, set aside and allow to cool.

Sift the flour and baking soda into a large bowl and make a well in the middle.

Beat the eggs and vanilla essence and stir into the cooled chocolate mix.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the well you have made in the flour and using a wooden spoon stir until combined.

Pour into a well greased and floured 24cm springform pan and bake in a preheated oven at 140C/275F/Gas 1 for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours or until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 20 minutes, before removing the springform pan's ring.

14 comments:

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

The name is deceiving here because it elludes to our childhood...at least that is what I first thought of. This is a very grownup dessert:D

Jan said...

Lovely cake Sylvie and great pictures! I'm liking the orange in it.

Katerina said...

Chocolate s the worse kind of distraction. (Groan)

Sam said...

You're right, everybody loves chocolate cake. I bet this one was delicious!

Trish Sharp said...

how is it possible that you can get down on the floor and so close to the cake without simply shoving your face right into it while taking huge bites? yummy!! yummy!!

Deborah said...

That looks like such a rich, delicious cake!

Anonymous said...

Yes, I am one who loves chocolate cake. And I don't mind the cofee either. Looks and sounds delicious!

Sylvie said...

Val, you're exactly right.

Jan, I was thinking that I might experiment with adding some orange zest as the flavour of the juice doesn't really come through at all.

Katerina, I'm sorry. You're doing so well though!

Sam,it was if I may say so myself.

Trish, I didn't think that the dinner party guests would appreciate large chunks missing, so I just about managed to hold back! LOL!

Deborah, thanks.

Veron, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!

Snooky doodle said...

this looks dangerously delicious :-)

Rosie said...

Oooooh Sylvie this is a cake I would adore, my mouth is watering just viewing all that chocolate heaven on a plate!!

Rosie x

Maggie said...

Lovely cake - I'm with you by using Green and Black's chocolate.
I think I'll take my slice of cake with some creme fraiche please Sylvie!

thepassionatecook said...

mmmmh! that looks exactly like my kind of cake! love the thought of it and wish i could have a slice of it RIGHT NOW¬!

Unknown said...

This looks like a wonderful cake! I'm curious how rich it is vs. how large it is. I need to bake a cake for a very special birthday (95!) and need to serve 12. If I doubled this recipe to make layers, what would you recommend as a frosting/filling? Or is the single-recipe cake large enough to be sliced in half?

Sylvie said...

Clucky, the cake is pretty rich as it is and quite a dense moist cake. In my opinion if you made two and layered them it would become an extremely rich cake, too much in my opinion. It would probably just about be thick enough to be cut in half as it is. If I did layer it I'd probably go chocolate all the way and use a chocolate ganache.