black bottom cake

black bottom cake

• 9 Nov 2015

Tomorrow, one of my workmates returns to work following a 6 week overseas holiday. We've really missed her, so to celebrate her return I've made a Black Bottom Cake inspired by a recipe for black bottom cupcakes in Belinda Jeffery's book, Mix and Bake.




I didn't have much time to bake on Sunday, so I was looking for something that wouldn't take long to make. The recipe looked like it fitted the bill. The cake has 2 layers - a chocolate cake layer topped with a chocolate chip studded cream cheese layer. I had some leftover chocolate ganache from a cake I made last weekend so I decided to ice the cake making a 3 layer version. I've not had a black bottom cupcake before and I haven't had a piece of the cake yet, so I can't wait to try it.





I put the cake into the fridge before topping it with the ganache layer. When I cut a piece of cake to photograph it looked pretty squidgy, which is always a good sign.



Here's the recipe for you. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.




Black Bottom Cake
Topping
250g (8 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
⅓ cup dark chocolate chips

Cake
¾ cup plain flour
½ tsp baking (bicarb) soda
pinch salt
2 tbs cocoa powder
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup warm water
1 tsp espresso powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tbs vegetable oil
½ tsp balsamic vinegar

Chocolate Ganache
30g (1 oz) unsalted butter, diced
50g (1 ¾) dark chocolate, finely chopped
1 tsp honey

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a 16 cm spring-form tin with baking paper.

To make the topping, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until thoroughly mixed in. Stir in the chocolate chips and put the bowl into the fridge while you make the cake.

To make the cake, sift the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa into a bowl. Stir in the caster sugar.

In another bowl, dissolve the espresso powder in the warm water. Mix in the vanilla extract, the oil and vinegar.

Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet mix and stir together until just mixed. Spoon the batter into the lined cake tin and level. Gently spoon the cheesecake layer over the cake mixture and place the tin in the preheated oven.

Bake the cake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the chocolate layer comes out clean. Cool the cake in the tin and leave on a cake rack to cool completely.

If you’re going to ice the cake, place the cake in the fridge while you prepare the chocolate ganache.




To make the ganache, put the butter in a heatproof bowl and place in the microwave. Cook on high for about 30 seconds or until the butter has melted. Add the chopped chocolate and honey to the hot butter and stir until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy. Let the chocolate stand for about 30 minutes until it thickens a little before pouring over the cooled cake. Allow the topping to set completely before serving.





The cake is languishing in the fridge at work so I'll let edit the post tomorrow and let you know how it turns out. 

P.S. The cake received a big thumbs up at work. I specially liked the cheesecake topping.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Jillian