Best Matilda Chocolate Cake

Name: Best Matilda Chocolate Cake
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 120 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cup All-Purpose Flour (2 cups all purpose flour (260g), sifted); 1 ½ tsp Baking Powder (1.5 tsp baking powder); 1 ½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda (1.5 tsp baking soda); 1 cup Granulated Sugar (1 cup granulated sugar (200g)); ⅔ cup Light Brown Sugar (2/3 cup light brown sugar (135g)); 1 ¼ tsp Table Salt (1 tsp salt + 1/4 tsp salt); 3 pieces Egg (3 large eggs, ideally room temp); ⅔ cup Vegetable Oil (⅔ cup vegetable oil (133g)); ⅓ cup Buttermilk (1/3 cup buttermilk - mix 1/3 cup whole milk (80g) + 1 tsp vinegar); 1 cup Sour Cream (1 cup sour cream (240g), ideally room temp); ¾ cup Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder (3/4 cup cocoa powder, Dutch Processed preferred (75g)); 2 tsp Coffee (2 tsp instant coffee); ¾ cup Water (3/4 cup boiling water (180g)); 300 g Dark Chocolate (300g dark chocolate); 3 tbsp Light Corn Syrup (3 tbsp corn syrup); 8 oz Cream Cheese (8 oz cream cheese, room temperature (226g)); ⅓ cup Cocoa Powder (1/3 cup cocoa powder (33g)); 1 cup Icing Sugar (1 cup powdered sugar (100g)); 1 ¼ cup Heavy Cream (1 1/4 cup heavy cream, chilled)

A rich, three-layer American chocolate cake with a dark chocolate fudge frosting, using buttermilk and sour cream for moisture and a cocoa-coffee blooming technique for depth.

120 minAmerican

Servings4

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Vegetarian
Pescatarian
Halal

Ingredients

For 4 servings

All-Purpose Flour2 cup · 2 cups all purpose flour (260g), sifted
Baking Powder1 ½ tsp · 1.5 tsp baking powder
Bicarbonate of Soda1 ½ tsp · 1.5 tsp baking soda
Granulated Sugar1 cup · 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
Light Brown Sugar⅔ cup · 2/3 cup light brown sugar (135g)
Table Salt1 ¼ tsp · 1 tsp salt + 1/4 tsp salt
Egg3 pieces · 3 large eggs, ideally room temp
Vegetable Oil⅔ cup · ⅔ cup vegetable oil (133g)
Buttermilk⅓ cup · 1/3 cup buttermilk - mix 1/3 cup whole milk (80g) + 1 tsp vinegar
Sour Cream1 cup · 1 cup sour cream (240g), ideally room temp
Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder¾ cup · 3/4 cup cocoa powder, Dutch Processed preferred (75g)
Coffee2 tsp · 2 tsp instant coffee
Water¾ cup · 3/4 cup boiling water (180g)
Dark Chocolate300 g · 300g dark chocolate
Light Corn Syrup3 tbsp · 3 tbsp corn syrup
Cream Cheese8 oz · 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature (226g)
Cocoa Powder⅓ cup · 1/3 cup cocoa powder (33g)
Icing Sugar1 cup · 1 cup powdered sugar (100g)
Heavy Cream1 ¼ cup · 1 1/4 cup heavy cream, chilled

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Steps

1Chocolate Cake: Preheat oven to 350F (no fan) and prepare 3 8" pans with parchment paper and butter.
2In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, granulated sugar, light brown sugar and salt. Whisk together until no lumps remain.
3In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk and sour cream until smooth.
4Add the dry ingredients to the wet in 2 additions, and gently whisk and fold until they are just combined and no big lumps remain. Do not overmix.
5In a separate small bowl, add the cocoa powder and instant coffee. Pour over the boiling water and whisk until a smooth shiny mixture forms.
6Pour the cocoa mixture onto the remaining batter, and gently fold until a chocolate cake batter forms.
7Divide the batter evenly between the 3 prepared cake pans.
8Bake for ~22-24 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with light moist crumbs attached.
9Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then carefully remove them and place on a wire rack. Let cool completely (I recommend refrigerating for 1 hour).
10Chocolate fudge frosting: Add the chocolate and corn syrup to a saucepan and heat over the lowest flame while stirring constantly until the chocolate has fully melted. Set aside.
11In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the room temperature cream cheese and sift in the cocoa powder, powdered sugar and salt. Use the paddle attachment and whisk on medium speed until the mixture becomes creamy (1-2 minutes). Scrape the bowl.
12Add the heavy cream and whisk again on low speed until a fluffy, whipped consistency is reached. Scrape the bowl in the middle. This should not take too long; avoid overmixing.
13At this point, the melted chocolate should be warm and runny but not very hot. Slowly pour it in while whisking on low speed until the chocolate is fully combined into the frosting. Due to the temperature of the chocolate, the frosting will become a more runny consistency.
14Let the frosting cool down until it becomes spreadable. I recommend doing this at room temperature for ~30 minutes but you can also do it in the fridge (it won't take too long). If it becomes too firm, remove 1 cup, microwave for just a few seconds it until it is warm, and whisk back into the remaining frosting.
15Assembly: Once the cakes and frosting have cooled down, it's time to assemble.
16Use a large serrated knife to carefully trim off the domes from the cakes.
17Layer them on top of each other with a generous layer of the frosting in between (don't be stingy!). Cover the cake with a thin layer of frosting (crumb coat) and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Then slather on the remaining frosting all over.
18Serve & enjoy! This cake is best eaten at room temperature.
19Tip: To get a shiny look on the cake, use a blow dryer at the lowest setting and gently wave it 1 foot away from the cake.