Chocolate cake with Truffle icing

I wanted to write a post on the first day of the New Year but somehow got so caught up with family and friends and not to forget, lots of merrymaking  that before I knew we were already 10 days into the first month. But better late than never.... Here's wishing all my friends an amazingly great 2012 !! Also wishing everyone loads of joy and happiness for the coming year. Lets all work towards making our dreams turn into reality and efforts into great achievements. Most importantly, lets learn to enjoy what we do and do what we enjoy.Three cheers to cooking lots of good food and trying out new recipes and not to forget eating it too !!

  Try out this lovely dark chocolate cake with the lovely melt in the mouth icing which I made for my husband's birthday on the 5th of January. The secret of this lovely rich gooey chocolatey cake lies in its icing, the recipe of which I managed to get out of our local bakery shop  (God bless him!!). He was sweet enough to let me stand inside the bakery and let me watch his bakers cut and ice the cakes and pastries.I just can't describe what a wonderful experience it was. It was almost like a Masterchef class was being held there right in front of me. They made everything look so simple and effortless. It was an amazing to see with what great speed and precision they shaped and decorated about 120 pastries in just about no time at all. I wish I had a camera with me at that time to capture everything and put it on my blog. Maybe next time.Anyways, it was a real wonderful treat for me.

It looked so easy that time but when I tried the same icing at home, I could not get the same finish as theirs but the taste was really great. Definitely, lots of practice needed !! Sadly, I could not take any picture while assembling my cake as the camera had absolutely no batteries and I didn't have the patience or the time to wait for the batteries to get charged as I wanted to get the cake finished quickly.

Enjoy this recipe and when you do make it, I can assure  you that you will just not be able to stop licking your fingers.

Ingredients

For the chocolate cake

100 gms flour

100 gms sugar

4 Tbsp cocoa

1 tsp coffee powder

4 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ cup oil

1 tsp vanilla essence

½ cup cold milk

1 tbsp vinegar
For the icing
2 cups whipped cream
2 cups chocolate Ganache

 Method

Sift together all your dry ingredients – Maida, cocoa, coffee powder, baking powder and baking soda and keep them aside.
Add vinegar to the cold milk and put in the fridge till required.
 In a bowl, beat the eggs and sugar really well till the mixture is nice and  fluffy and creamy. Use a hand mixer for good results.
Pour in the oil and the milk and vinegar mixture and mix well.
Add the vanilla essence.
 Take a wooden spoon or a wooden spatula and fold in carefully the dry ingredients into the egg mixture till well mixed.
Pour the batter into a greased microwave dish
 Bake in the microwave oven at HIGH  for 7 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check if it comes out clean. If not done, bake for one more minute.
The cake should start pulling away from the sides and springs back when touched.
Cover the cake and leave it in the microwave for 5 -10 minutes.
Let it cool nicely before doing the icing.


To assemble the cake
Before you begin icing, place your cake on a flat surface.
Before splitting your cake, level it. This simply means: trim the top of your cake so it is perfectly flat. The easiest way to do this is to find the lowest part of the cake and hold your knife parallel against the low edge, then begin pulling your knife back and forth as you move it across the surface of the cake.  You should be left with both a level cake and a delicious piece of trim.
Now, flip the cake over so the top area you just trimmed is now the bottom, resting on the flat surface you chose and the top is absolutely leveled
Now take a long knife and cut the cake horizontally in three equal parts.
Place the first layer onto a plate or stand. Fully frost the top of the first layer with the chocolate ganache.
Place the second layer on top of the first layer. Frost the top of the second layer using another 1/4 of the frosting. Repeat with the third and final layer.
Once the three layers are stacked up, take the whipped cream and cover the sides and top generously with the icing.
Smoothen the icing on the top and the sides of the cake so that it is evenly spread.
Now take the chocolate ganache frosting (make sure it is a spreadable consistency and not too thick ) and pour it generously on top of the iced cake, letting the extra drip on to the sides. 
Smoothen the top of the cake with a spatula or a knife.
Next, take a cake "comb" -- a metal triangle with teeth on all three edges -- and quickly drag it around the sides of the cake. (Be careful to do it with a light hand and not too many times, otherwise the whipped cream below would start showing as you can see is showing on my cake)
Add garnishes or piping, if desired, and you have a cake that takes the cake.