Ingredients
Cake
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1 tsp instant coffee (remove if making white chocolate version)
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1 cup (250ml) water
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250g unsalted butter, cubed
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200g chocolate (white, milk or dark)
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2 cups (440g) caster sugar
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4 large eggs, lightly beaten
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2 tbsp (40ml) vegetable oil
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½ cup (125ml) full cream milk
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3 tsp Queen Organic Vanilla Bean Paste
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1 cup (150g) self-raising flour, sifted
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1 cup (150g) plain flour, sifted
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½ cup (60g) cocoa, sifted (replace with same amount of plain flour if making white choc mud cake)
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½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Ganache
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150g dark chocolate, chopped
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150ml thickened cream
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Cocoa powder, to dust
Method - Cake
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1
Preheat oven to 160C (fan forced). Grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm deep round cake tin with baking paper. Set aside.
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2
Combine coffee and water in a medium saucepan over a low heat. Add butter, chocolate and sugar stirring occasionally until mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool completely.
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3
Combine eggs, vegetable oil, milk and Vanilla Bean Paste in a jug. Add to cooled chocolate mixture, mixing until just combined.
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4
Sift remaining ingredients into a large bowl, mixing to combine. Make a well in the centre and pour in chocolate mixture, stirring to combine. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 1 hour 15-20 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Method - Ganache
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1
Place chopped chocolate into a small, heat proof bowl, set aside. Melt cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until just simmering.
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2
Remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Allow to sit for 3-4 minutes, before mixing until smooth.
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3
Allow to come to room temperature before placing in the fridge until it is a spreadable consistency. Spread over top of cake and dust with cocoa powder to serve.
For a 2 layer Mud Cake:
Use the same quantity of batter and pour evenly into two 20cm round cake tins. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
For Cupcakes – Makes 12-14 cupcakes
½ tsp instant coffee (remove if making white chocolate version)
½ cup (125ml) water
125g unsalted butter, cubed
100g chocolate (white, milk or dark)
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp (20ml) vegetable oil
¼ cup (60ml) full cream milk
2 tsp Queen Organic Vanilla Bean Paste
½ cup (75g) self raising flour, sifted
½ cup (75g) plain flour, sifted
¼ cup (30g) cocoa, sifted (replace with same amount
of plain flour if making white choc mud cake)
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Fill cupcakes to 3/4 full (approx. 1/4 cup) per cupcake case. Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
For a dark or milk chocolate mud cake try the following delicious additions:
- Jaffa: Add the finely grated zest of a whole orange when melting the chocolate mixture your mud cake.
- Choc Peanut: Swirl 1/3 cup of smooth peanut butter through your ganache for a choc peanut hit!
- Choc Mint: Add 3 tsp Queen Peppermint Extract to your ganache.
- Choc Hazelnut: Swirl 1/3 cup of Nutella through your ganache and top with roasted hazelnuts.
- Mocha: Add an additional 1 tbsp of instant coffee to the melted chocolate mixture for your cake and 2 tsp of instant coffee when heating your cream for the ganache.
Recipe Tips:
- Always bake mud cakes on the middle rack of your oven. This provides consistent airflow around the cake, ensuring even baking.
- When making ganache, please use good quality blocks of baking/cooking chocolate that contain cocoa butter/cocoa solids. Melts create a much softer ganache – if using melts, the amount of chocolate with need to be doubled. Use 200g of melts for 100ml of cream.
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