Rich Chocolate Cake

One of the first recipes I jotted down on my cookbook before realizing I was noting it down from a Food Blog! I can never have ?enough? Chocolate Cake recipes and this one looked so rich and chocolatey that I couldn?t give it a miss.During my hunt for recipes for the Chocolate Cake event,I remembered this recipe and decided to give it a try.This one being a no-frost cake was tempting enough.Not that I dislike frosted cakes,on the contrary,I ? them,but sadly my weighing scale gives me nightmares.

I went ahead and frosted it anyway..just so that I could use up the leftover ganache-white and dark.See,I used up the leftovers..so I can be pardoned:).Followed this five-minute frosting idea from Deeba[who else].The result was a spectacular looking cake[if I may say so myself:)] with just a few minutes of effort.

I followed the recipe verbatim from Malabar Spices.Definitely on my bake-again list.Moist and chocolatey with a hint of cinnamon..l?ved it!!

Flour ? 1 ½ cups [ half and half of Maida and Atta]
Baking soda ? 1 ½ level tsp
Salt ? a pinch
Cocoa powder ? 3 tbsp,heaped
Sugar ? 1 ½ cups
Eggs ? 2
Butter ? ½ cup,melted or 8 tbsp
Sunflower oil ? ¼ cup
Vanilla essence ? 1 tsp
Yogurt ? 1 ¼ cup[I used homemade,Amul or Nestle dahi-set curd could be used too]
Walnuts/Almonds ? ½ cup,ground to a powder[I used both]
Cinnamon ? 1? stick[optional]

Method

Preheat the oven to 175C.
Sift the flour with soda,salt and cocoa powder.
Beat the eggs slightly and keep aside.
Powder the sugar with the cinnamon[if using] and beat with the melted butter till the sugar dissolves.
Add in the beaten eggs and vanilla essence and beat well.
Blend in the oil and yogurt till well mixed.
Add the flour slowly blending it in as you go-do not add at one go-the mix should be smooth textured.
Now add the powdered nuts-do not overmix after this stage.
Grease an 8? round cake tin and sprinkle with flour.
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean[mine took 40 minutes]
Cool and cut into wedges.

Optional frosting

I frosted the cake with some dark chocolate ganache and made a spidey web pattern using the white chocolate ganache.This step can be skipped totally if you want a plain cake.It tastes delicious either ways!!