recipe: the easiest chocolate velvet cake

 

 

You know how it goes... You get a craving for something and you want it NOW. Well on Sunday I had an intense craving for a dense chocolate cake. After sifting through my mom's entire collection of recipe books I came across The Australian Womens Weekly "Quick-Mix Cakes" book, which I remember being one of her 'favs' during the early nineties when I was just a yung'en. I found this recipe in the book for a chocolate velvet cake, and not only was it a quick & easy recipe, it only required one bowl to mix all ingredients!
 

THE EASIEST CHOCOLATE VELVET CAKE


Ingredients:

125g butter, chopped
1 cup (200g) firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (110g) castor sugar
3 eggs
2 cups (300g) plain flour
1/2 cup (50g) cocoa
1 tsp bicarb of soda
1/2 cup(125ml) sour cream (you can add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to normal pouring cream as a substitute)
2/3 cup (160ml) water


Directions:

1. Grease a 23cm square slab cake pan (I used 2x20cm round cake tins instead), cover base with baking paper.

2. Combine all ingredients in medium bowl of electric mixer, beat on low speed until ingredients are combined. Then, beat on medium speed until mixture is just smooth and changed in colour; do not over-beat.

3. Spread mixture into prepared pan. Bake in moderate oven for about 40 minutes. (Keep checking after 30 minutes) Stand 5 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool.

4. Spread the tops of both cakes with coffee buttercream (see recipe below), then place one cake on top of the other.

For the coffee buttercream frosting

1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee granules
1 1/2 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla essence
340g unsalted butter, softened
3 cup icing sugar
3 tbsp milk

1.  Combine water, coffee granules, and vanilla essence in a small bowl; stir to dissolve coffee.  Set aside.

2.  Beat butter in bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute.  Reduce mixer speed to low. Add icing sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating for a few seconds between each addition. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes.

3.  Add the coffee mixture and milk; beat on low speed to combine. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 4 minutes.  Frost cake as previously mentioned.