Cakes & Cupcakes
Black Velvet Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache
This cake is a lightly flavoured buttermilk chocolate cake, with a light chocolate cream cheese filling and dark chocolate ganache coating.
Years ago, I recall seeing a black velvet cake in Food and Home magazine, which I religiously purchased monthly. The cake itself looked delicious, but the styling and shot of everything being in black was so striking! The recipe was created by the fabulous and insanely talented Katelyn Williams of The Katetin.
I knew if ever I was to start exploring food photography and food styling, I would want to aspire to do something that epic! Now that I am blogging, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to do so. I think black and gold is such an elegant combination and when I saw that gold cake stand on sale at H&M Home (I didn't even know they had a home range until recently), I had to buy it.
What I like about the cake being completely black (i.e. the actual cake, the filling and the icing), is that the flavour is unknown until you take an actual bite into it! I decided to use my red velvet cake recipe and modify it slightly, pairing it with a cream cheese filling with a hint of chocolate and a dark chocolate ganache. I shared some with friends and their comment was "this is probably one of your best cakes we've tasted". I felt rather accomplished.
The little touches of gold leaf add a lovely element of opulence to the cake and the solo black chocolate flower is completely eye-catching. I include a tutorial on how to make it.
The next time there is a special occasion, I suggest trying this one out. I always find baking my own cakes as opposed to purchasing a generic one is always so much more special.
The recipe
Black Velvet Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache
adventureswithsugar.com/black-velvet-cake-with-dark-chocolate-ganache/
Method
Method: black velvet cake
- Preheat the oven and prepare the tins: Preheat the oven to 180˚ Celsius. Grease and line the base and sides of two 20cm cake tins with baking paper (or three 18cm tins).
- Sift the dry ingredients: Sift the flour, cornflour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cocoa, activated charcoal and sugar into a bowl.
- Add the butter: Add in the very soft butter, cubed, to the dry ingredients.
- Combine the wet ingredients: In another bowl, lightly beat the two eggs, then add in the vanilla, oil, buttermilk, coffee and black gel food colour. Mix to combine.
- Add half the wet ingredients: Pour half the liquid into the dry ingredients, which now includes the butter.
- Mix on low speed: With the mixer on very low speed, start to combine all the ingredients until just incorporated. Starting the mixer on low prevents a cloud of dry ingredients getting all over your kitchen.
- Add the remaining wet ingredients: Once this is mixed in, add the remaining wet ingredients and mix, until just incorporated.
- Scrape down and divide: Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula a few times to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated, before dividing it into two (or three, if you are using 18cm) tins.
- Bake: Bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Method: chocolate cream cheese filling
- Beat the butter: Beat the butter until light and airy.
- Sift the icing sugar and cocoa: Sift the icing sugar and the cocoa together.
- Add the icing sugar and cocoa: Then add in the icing sugar/cocoa mixture and beat until combined.
- Beat the cream cheese: In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
- Fold in the cream cheese: Then gently fold the cream cheese into the butter and icing sugar mixture.
- Colour the icing: Add black gel food colour to tint the icing.
- Why beat it separately: Beating the cream cheese separately ensures that it is not overbeaten, and your icing does not end up being too runny.
- Fill the cake: Frost in between the two cake layers.
Method: dark chocolate ganache coating
- Combine the ingredients: Place the dark chocolate, whipping cream and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in the microwave.
- Heat and stir: Heat for about a minute, and stir the mixture.
- Melt completely: Then continue to heat, stopping every 30 seconds to stir the mix. Do this until all the chocolate is melted.
- Colour the ganache: Once the ganache comes together, add in the black gel food colour to tint the ganache black.
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