Velvety buttermilk chocolate cake

There’s a pleasantly light crumb in this cake, whose dense chocolate flavour is beautifully enhanced by the natural vanilla and the tartness of the buttermilk.

For 6 – 8
15 minutes preparation
25 minutes cooking

170 g unsalted or unsalted butter – or a mix of both depending on your taste – at room temperature.
140 g caster sugar
160 g light soft brown sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
210 g plain flour
120 g good quality unsweetened cocoa powder
170 ml buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking powder

For the glaze
200 g dark chocolate
100 g unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter a 22–23 cm round cake tin, then line the base with a circle of baking paper.

Mix the butter and the two sugars in a mixing bowl with electric beaters for about two minutes, until the mixture becomes pale and mousse-like. Add the eggs one by one, beating well between each addition and scraping down the side of the bowl. Next, add the vanilla extract.

Sift half the flour and cocoa over the batter. Mix in with a spatula before adding the buttermilk. Then add the rest of the flour and cocoa and the baking powder. Combine.

Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 20 – 25 minutes To check whether the cake is done, insert the blade of a knife into the middle; it should come out clean.

When it comes out of the oven, let the cake cool for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a rack to cool completely. The cake will be much better eaten the next day, so try to grin and bear it! If you live, you could also glaze it before serving.

Simply melt the chocolate and butter together with a tablespoon of water, slowly, in a microwave or over a bain-marie. Stir gently until glossy. Place the cake on a rack. Let the glaze cool and thicken slightly before spreading over the cake with a palette knife. Leave to dry before serving.

Chocolate orange polenta cake

This rich and dense cake, with its chocolate orange ganache, is a wonderful choice for an Easter showstopper. Forgive me if there is a bit more washing up than usual, but this rather sophisticated cake is well worth the trouble.

For 6 – 8
30 mins preparation
45 mins cooking

200 g very good quality dark chocolate
100 g unsalted butter
100 g lightly salted butter
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice (sieved)
4 eggs
125 g soft brown sugar
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
50 g instant fine grain polenta
Grated zest of 1 orange

Orange chocolate ganache
50 g dark brown sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
200 g dark chocolate
100 g unsalted butter
Candied oranges or clementines

Preheat the oven to 180°C Butter and flour a round cake tin, 20 cm in diameter and 10 cm deep (straight-sided if possible).

Put the chocolate, butters and orange juice in a mixing bowl, then melt them together in a microwave or in a bain-marie.

Stir the mixture to make it smooth.Separate the eggs. Beat the whites to peaks with an electric beater, gradually adding half of the sugar to make a firm and glossy meringue.

In another mixing bowl, beat the yolks with the rest of the sugar until the mixture is pale and mousse-like. Gradually add the melted butter mixture, then the baking powder, polenta and orange zest. Finally, using a spatula, gently fold in the meringue.

Pour the batter into the tin, and bake the cake for about 40 – 45 minutes. When the cake comes out of the oven, let it cool completely in the tin.

For the glaze

Place all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and heat them in a microwave or bain marie. Stir the mixture until smooth, then let it cool and thicken slightly.

Unmould the cake, running the blade of a knife around the side of the tin to make this easier. Then glaze the cake, setting it on a rack, with a palette knife. Leave in a cool place to let the ganache set, then transfer it on to a pretty plate or stand and decorate with candied oranges or clementines to serve.

Photographs by Guillaume Czerw