The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe with Chocolate Frosting

There are thousands of chocolate cake recipes and choosing one to make can be very difficult. As all chocolate lovers, we might not have tried them all but we certainly have our fair share of tries and failures, favourite chocolate layers, mousses and creams, flavour combinations and baking tips. This no-fail Chocolate Cake recipe is quite easy to follow and I’m sure you’ll love the chocolate frosting – it contains only 5 ingredients and you’ll be tempted to eat it from the bowl.

This highly chocolate cake is a the perfect dessert to go both with your afternoon coffee or as the pinnacle of any celebration. At least we don’t think that any birthday boy or girl will complain about this surprise. Or why not finish a family dinner with a piece of chocolate temptation and a glass of cognac?

To top off this yummy goodness, we have, of course, used even more chocolate and decorated the cake with red currant. You can use pretty much any other berries (like raspberries or blackberries) but we recommend the slightly sour ones so you can achieve a contrast between the chocolate cake and the fruit. 

Ingredients for the chocolate cake layers:

• 150 g sugar
• 150 g margarine, softened
• 135 g all purpose flour
• 25 g cocoa
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Ingredients for the chocolate frosting:

• 300 g dark chocolate
• 250 ml single cream
• 50 g butter
• 45 g icing sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. gelatine

Other necessary tools and ingredients:

• loose base cake tin (16-18 cm diameter and 8 cm height)
• 6 tbsp. cognac
• 10 g grated chocolate for decoration
• 125 g red currant for decoration
• cellophane
• baking parchment
• scissors
• wooden skewer

The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºС. Line the bottom and the sides of the cake baking tin with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the eggs in a big bowl. Mix in the sugar and margarine until a soft and fluffy mixture is obtained.
3. Sift the flour and cocoa in another bowl. Stir in the baking powder and soda.
4. Gradually mix in the flour to the margarine mixture until incorporated.
5. Pour the cocoa mixture into the baking tin and bake for about 45 minutes. Insert a wooden skewer in the middle of the cake to check if it is done, it should come out clean.
6. Take the cake out of the tin and leave it on a cooling rack until completely cool.
7. Cut 0.5 cm off of the edge to reduce the diameter. Use a cake leveller to cut the cake into 3 equally thick layers. 
8. To make the chocolate frosting, pour 3 tablespoons of cold water into a small bowl and soak the gelatine.
9. Melt the chocolate and the butter in a double boiler. Remove from the heat and stir in the gelatine until dissolved.
10. Beat the cream until fluffy peaks form. Mix in the icing sugar.
11. Gradually add the cream to the chocolate cream and stir with a spatula until well combined. Divide the chocolate frosting into 3 equal parts.
12. Wash and dry the cake baking tin. Cut a line from the cellophane with the same width as the tin. Use it to line the inner walls of the baking tin and leave it to overlap.
13. Place the first chocolate cake layer on the bottom. Pour 2 tablespoons of cognac over, then spread one part of the chocolate over to fill the whole tin. Repeat the procedure with the other 2 layers. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
    
14. Take the chocolate cake out of the baking tin. Sprinkle with the grated chocolate and arrange the red currant. Remove the cellophane before serving.

Bon appetit!