Ultimate Chocolate Cake

I asked for suggestions for this Cake Monday and going by the responses, so many of you seem to be big chocolate fans.

This Ultimate Chocolate Cake includes nearly every type in the one slice….dark, milk, white, cocoa, ganache, truffles. You have been warned!!
It makes a great birthday or celebration cake.

175g unsalted butter softened or Stork with Butter brand
300g caster sugar
3 large free range eggs
200g plain flour
75g self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
75g good quality cocoa powder
200ml sour cream at room temp
50g full fat cream cheese
100g dark or white chocolate chips, your preference

Decoration:
300g double cream
300g good quality dark chocolate chips or use 150g milk & 150g dark
8 Cadbury “Little Bars”
6 Milky Bars or other thin white chocolate bar
A selection of your favourite truffles. I use Lindor in this cake.

1. Preheat oven to 170C or 160C fan. Butter and line the base of a 20cm springform tin with parchment.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition.
3. In a separate bowl, sift the flours, bicarb soda and cocoa powder together. Add half the sifted mixture to the butter/egg mix and fold in gently with a large metal spoon.
4. In another bowl, mix together the cream cheese & sour cream until smooth then fold this into the cake mix. Repeat process of adding flour mix then sour cream mix until everything is smooth and well combined. Finally add in the chocolate chips and mix gently through the cake mix.
5. Spoon the cake mix into the prepared tin, smooth the top then pop into the preheated oven for 1 hour. Test after 50 mins just in case. A skewer stuck into the centre of the cake should come out clean.
6. Leave cake in tin to cool for 10 mins then remove from tin onto a wire rack to cool completely.
7. While cake is cooling, make the chocolate ganache. Boil the cream briefly and pour over the chocolate chips. Beat with a wooden spoon until the chips are melted and the mix if smooth. Cool completely. I like to whip the cooled ganache for a minute with an electric beater to make a lighter texture before spreading over the cake.
8. To decorate, spread the ganache over the top and sides of the cooled cake. Smooth over with a palette knife.
9. Trip the mini white and milk chocolate bars to size and stick to the side of the cake, alternating for effect. Top the cake with your choice of chocolates or truffles.