Chocolate Truffle Cake - Death by chocolate blog hop

After seeing all the entries from the Australian

Pavlova blog hop I was eagerly awaiting for the

next one so I could enter. I think the blog hop is a

great idea and it is amazing to see the different recipes

that come out of one single theme.

When Hungry Australian announced the recent blog

hop of Death by Chocolate, I instantly knew the recipe

I would bake. Chocolate Truffle Cake. This recipe from

Donna Hay (i love her fool proof methods) looks rich

and indulgent but its surprisingly not so rich that it leaves

you searching for milk / water to wash it down with.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of chocolate but if its

too rich it spoils the taste.

I've made this cake many times, as its easy after your

first attempt, makes you look like a cake whiz and

also a crowd pleaser. I love making this cake as

when I'm smoothing out the truffle icing it reminds me

of the cake from the children's movie Matilda where

Bruce Bogtrotters punishment is to eat a huge

piece of chocolate cake. That cake looked so good,

and I like to imagine it tasting a little like this.

I normally make this cake in a 20cm pan but this

time I made a mini double layer version using
2 x 10cm pans.

Chocolate Truffle Cake

(Recipe from: Donna Hay - Classics)

Makes one 20cm sized cake.

Cake
1/2 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/3 cup caster sugar
4 eggs
80g butter, melted
*100g dark chocolate, melted* optional

Truffle filling
450g dark chocolate (good quality, I prefer organic)
2cups pouring cream
6 eggs yolks
1/3 cup caster sugar

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line
a 20cm spring form tin with baking paper.

Sift together flour and cocoa powder, set aside.
Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until
pale, thick and tripled in size, approx 8 - 10mins.
Then fold in flour and cocoa, followed by the butter
and the optional dark chocolate. *I add a little
amount of chocolate to the cake mix as it makes
the cake denser and more flavoursome*.

Pour the mix into the tin and bake for 25mins or
until the cake shrinks away from the side of the tin.
Its important that the cake does this to make
icing step easy. Cool cake in tin. I like to cool it upside
down so to make sure I have a flat top.

For the filling, melt cream and chocolate in a saucepan
over low heat. I prefer to finely chop the chocolate, heat the
cream to nearly boiling then stir in the chocolate which
quickly melts. It prevents me from burning the chocolate.
Once combined, set aside. Place the egg yolks and
sugar over a bain marie (heat proof bowl on top of
saucepan of simmering water) and whisk for 6mins
until thickened and creamy. Fold the chocolate mix
into the egg mix and beat until the filling is cool.
Place in fridge for 30mins.

Remove cakes and baking paper from tins and slice
the cake in two even portions. Place the bottom
layer back into the tin and pour over 1/2 the truffle
mix onto the layer. Give the tin a gentle tap on the
bench to release any air bubbles trapped in the
sides. The filling should run down the side of the
tin where the cake shrank from the sides.
Place second cake layer gently on top and then
pour over the rest of the filling, gently tapping tin again.
Refrigerate for 5 hrs or until set like mousse / ganache.

To remove cake from tin, place a warm / heated towel
around the tin to melt the sides. Cake should easily slide
out once spring form is released. Smooth any rough
edges with the back of a warm palette that has been
heated in warm water then dried quickly with a towel.

While this cake may seem daunting on the first attempt,
trust me with the fact that when you get a rewarding end
result you'll say...that actually wasn't that hard. Also always
remember the cliche, practice makes perfect and if you
live in a household like mine, a chocolate cake will
never go astray.

This is a blog hop