A 12-step recipe for dessert (or even an impromptu birthday cake) …
This year I decided to make myself a birthday cake (which is very unlike me), but after demonstrating the chocolate crémeux recipe at our great In The Autumn Kitchen Event, I couldn’t stop thinking about using it as part of a layered cake.
Sometimes, I get these visions of recipes and I have to make them. This is a simplified version of what could easily become quite a fancy, pâtisserie-style number – but I promise that it’s very doable and equally impressive.
A light chocolate, coffee and olive oil sponge topped with a set layer of chocolate crémeux and finished with a mascarpone cream, there’s no special equipment required – just some bowls, a saucepan, weighing scales and a cake tin.
I’m not a chocolate cake person (unless it’s something in the realm of a chocolate Guinness cake), but I had no Guinness in the house, so I opted for a simpler version using sour cream and olive oil mixed in one bowl.
So, here it is: my not-too-sweet, deeply chocolatey cake. You also don’t need to add mascarpone to the cream, just a lightly whipped cream also tastes great.
LAYERED COFFEE & CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CRÉMEUX
Ingredients
For the cake
110g plain flour
175g caster sugar
45g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of fine salt
80g full-fat sour cream
60g vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
100g freshly brewed coffee (or freshly boiled water)
For the chocolate crémeux
100g whole milk
190g double cream
3 medium egg yolks
50g soft light brown sugar (or caster sugar)
190g dark chocolate (70%)
40g unsalted butter
A pinch of flaky sea salt
For the mascarpone cream
250g mascarpone
200g double cream
25g icing sugar
Method
For the cake
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan (180°C conventional). Lightly butter a 22cm round cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
3. In a jug, whisk the sour cream, oil, egg, egg yolk and vanilla until smooth. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Stir until almost combined – a few streaks of flour are fine.
4. Pour in the hot coffee (or water) and whisk gently until smooth. The batter will seem thin, but trust me, it’s fine!
5. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30–35 minutes, or until the centre springs back when gently pressed and a skewer comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
6. Leave to cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes while you make the crémeux.
For the chocolate crémeux
1. Finely chop the chocolate and place it in a large bowl with the butter and sea salt.
2. Heat the milk and cream in a small saucepan until just about to simmer. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale. Slowly pour a third of the hot milk mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly to temper them.
3. Pour the egg mixture back into the pan and cook gently over a low heat, stirring with a spatula, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon – about 82°C if using a thermometer.
4. Strain the custard over the chopped chocolate and butter, leave for a minute, then whisk until smooth and glossy.
5. Pour the crémeux over the cooled cake and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight, until set.
6. Take the cake out of the fridge about 30 minutes before serving so the cremeaux softens slightly.