Use any excess chocolate eggs in this decadent chocolate cake. It’s a matter of melting, mixing, sitting back and enjoying!
Makes 22cm round cake
250g butter, cut into cubes
250g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp instant coffee powder (or granules)
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
¼ cup extra-light olive oil (or vegetable oil)
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup plain flour
½ cup cocoa
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 cups caster sugar
2 cups thickened cream
500g dark chocolate (extra), roughly chopped
white chocolate, for chocolate leaves
1 Preheat oven to 160C. Grease and line a 22cm round cake pan with baking paper. Put butter, chocolate, coffee, vanilla and ¾ cup hot water in a saucepan and stir over low heat until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat.
2 Combine eggs, oil and buttermilk in a large jug. Sift flours, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Add sugar and stir until well combined. Make a well in centre of flour mixture and add egg mixture. Stir slowly to combine. Add chocolate mixture, stirring constantly until well combined.
3 Pour mixture into prepared cake pan and bake for 1 hour 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool cake in pan.
4 To make ganache, put cream and chocolate (extra) in a heavy-based saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth and well combined. Pour into a bowl. Cool at room temperature or refrigerate until ganache is spreadable. Decorate cake with ganache and chocolate leaves (see page 144).