THE Best Ever Homemade Chocolate Mud Cake

When it comes to Chocolate cake and Chocolate Mud cake, they are all pretty much the best ever because lets face it, how can you go wrong with chocolate! Well, let me share with you this recipe I adapted to make what I can only say is the best cake I have ever made myself. And don't worry if you are not a wiz in the kitchen... am I not either! Move aside Nigella Lawson, this is as easy as they come.

Firstly, a side bar question: Do you ever find you have left over fresh cream in the fridge that you need to use in a hurry?

This is the reason I found myself baking this cake that I am now sharing with you. Hating to waste food, I hunted high and low for an easy cake recipe that used fresh cream. Low and behold, apparently sour cream is the new cream and all the recipes I found only used sour cream. Sour cream is not a shopping staple in our house, but did you know you can turn double thick fresh cream into sour cream to be used as a substitute in baking? Me neither! Well, you can and I did and it worked!

How to turn Fresh Cream into Sour Cream for Baking...

Simply add 1 - 2 tsps of Lemon Juice into approximately 150ml of double thick (or thickened) fresh cream, mix with a spoon and let it stand for 30 mins to thinken slightly and presto... Sour Cream!

Now you have done that, you are ready to make the cake.

What you will need:

• 200g Butter
• 200g of Quality Milk Chocolate (I had Nestle Milk Melts in the pantry, so I used them)
• 1 1/2 Cups of Caster Sugar
• 3/4 Cup of Hot Water
• 1 tsp Coffee (I added a little extra)
• 1 Cup Plain Flour
• 1/2 Cup Self Raising Flour
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa
• 2 Eggs lightly beaten
• 1/2 Cup of Double Thick (or Thickened) Fresh Cream mixed with 1 tsp of Lemon Juice (aka Sour Cream, refer above)

Ganache:

• 1 Cup Thickened Cream
• 1 Cup Good Quality Milk or Dark Chololate. Equal parts of cream and chocolate will give you a ganache that will pour over your cake, but will set to a fudgy ganage on top of your cake. If it is too runny for your cake, set aside to thinken slightly before icing. Milk chocolate will give you a milky and sweet ganache, dark chocolate will give you a rich, less sweet ganache.

How to make the cake:

• Preheat your oven to 160 degrees celsius (140 degrees for fan forced)
• Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin
• Place first 5 ingredients into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until all the ingredients have melted (but don't let boil). I mixed the coffee granules into the warm water first to dissolve. Hint: Cut the chocolate into small pieces so it melts quicker or use choc bits
• Pour into a mixing bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Whisk your lightly beaten eggs and sour cream together until smooth
• Fold in sifted flours, cocoa and egg mix into the cooled chocolate mix until smooth
• Pour into prepared cake tin and bake for approximately 1 hour (I took my cake out at 50 mins as it was cooked and I didn't want it to go dry)

Once your cake is cooled, you can ice it.

Simply melt the cream and chocolate over a low heat until the chocolate is fully melted and the mixture is hot. Do not boil. Remove from heat, set aside to cool and thicken slightly (or place in the fridge) and then pour over the cake once your desired consitency has been reached.

When served immediately, the cake will be smooth and indulgent. If you place your cake in the fridge for storage, it will remain moist and turn into a thick mud cake with a thick ganache that will certainly have you going back for seconds!

Bon Appetite and you're welcome!! xx

Belinda xx

The cake just after baking with a soft, saucy ganache        The cake a few days later, still moist with a fudge ganache