We’re on a bit of a chocolate streak at the moment it looks like. Well I ain’t complaining because like the title suggests, this is by far the BEST chocolate cake you’ll have. Yup, Matilda’s got nothing on this cake. Strap on kids, we’re going on a choccy ride.

You have Jack to thank for this recipe. He very rarely requests a dessert and when he does, it’s alwayssss chocolate…what a surprise! BUTTT, this time he wanted a combination of both dark AND white chocolate..intriguing. His only condition was that I don’t “chef it up”…okaaaayyy then. Well, clearly I did and he loved it so I guess we all had a happy day. And now you’re about to have one too :))

Stories aside, let’s talk about this cake. Why do we love it?

It’s insanely delicious! It’s got the perfect balance of dark bitter chocolate, with that sweet milky white chocolate, and just enough saltiness from the caramel to want to make you crave more, but not sickeningly so. Iykyk.
It’s like eating a hug. It’s so comforting, so familiar, and screams of happy thoughts. Awww
It’s a chocolate cake…do we need any more reason?

If you’ve been on this website for more than 2 seconds, you’d know how much I love this chocolate sponge. When I say go-to, I literally mean go-to! I use this chocolate cake recipe for basically all my chocolate desserts. It’s quite literally the best chocolate cake recipe I know and it’s so so easy to put it together. So you’ve got this insane chocolate cake, layered with a luxurious chocolate mascarpone ganache and a caramelised white chocolate chantilly….YUM!

I hear you ask, why mascarpone in a ganache? I ideally wanted a very fudgy kinda filling for this but without a whole cocoa powder-sugar syrup situation. Not my vibe. A ganache made well is one of the best fillings there is. Adding a fatty cheese like mascarpone makes the ganache really luxurious, giving it a similar fugdy vibe. Plus extra flavour!

Coming onto the white chocolate chantilly, I’ve used Cadbury Caramilk here because it is basically caramelised white chocolate. That extra caramely goodness adds a subtle yet extra depth of flavour that really makes the cake pop. Paired wonderfully with a salty caramel sauce to double down on that gorgeous flavour.

The thing that ties it all together- that coffee amaretto soak. Sure you can use a simple syrup as your soak but where’s the flavour? If you’ve never baked with amaretto before, you NEED to get on that train. That very subtle coffee soak is really what balances the whole dessert together. It adds enough bitterness to balance the sweet and the salty. The result- an absolute delight!

This cake is my gift to you. Make it with love and enjoy it with love. I have a sneaky feeling, you’re gonna come back to it more often than you think. An absolute joy to bake and to devour. Enjoy and happy baking!

Recipe

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the chocolate cake:

1 batch of my go-to chocolate cake

For the coffee soak:

75g hot water
10g instant coffee powder
30ml amaretto (or sub bourbon)

For the chocolate mascarpone ganache:

150g good quality dark chocolate (54.5%)
180g heavy cream
22g liquid glucose
44g mascarpone

For the salted caramel filling:

65g caster sugar
33g liquid glucose
25ml water
50g heavy cream
15g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt
30ml amaretto (or sub bourbon)

For the caramilk chantilly:

230g heavy cream
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
70g Cadbury Caramilk*
3g gelatine powder
15g cold water
cocoa nibs, to garnish, optional

Method

For the coffee soak:

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Stir to combine. Keep aside.

For the chocolate mascarpone ganache:

Place the chocolate in a small measuring jug.
In a small pot, weigh the heavy cream and glucose together. Place over medium heat and heat until just about to boil.
Pour over the chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds. Use an immersion blender and emulsify to get a smooth ganache. Reserve 100g of this for the glaze later.
Add the mascarpone to the remaining ganache and emulsify again. Transfer to a piping bag and keep aside.

For the salted caramel filling:

In a deep pot, weight out the sugar, glucose and water together. Put over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar caramelizes and turns a deep amber brown colour.
Meanwhile, heat the heavy cream in a separate pot or in the microwave. Keep hot.
Once the sugar reaches the desired colour, remove from the heat and slowly pour in the hot cream in 3 parts, whisking after each addition. The caramel will bubble vigorously so be careful.
Put the caramel back on heat and cook for 30 seconds, whisking continuously.
Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 mins. Add the butter and whisk to combine.
Add the scraped vanilla seeds salt and amaretto and whisk to combine. Emulsify using an immersion blender.
Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool completely before use. Transfer to a piping bag. Keep refrigerated.

For the caramilk chantilly:

Make this a day before: Weigh out the cold water in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatine powder over it and allow to set in the refrigerator for 10 mins.
Weigh out the chocolate in a small measuring jug.
In a small pot, add the heavy cream and scraped vanilla seeds along with the pod. Place over medium heat and heat until the cream is just about to boil.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and emulsify with an immersion blender. Alternatively you can also use a whisk.
Add the bloomed gelatine mass and emulsify again.
Pour the chantilly into a plastic container, place a layer of cling wrap on the surface of the chantilly and refrigerate for min. 8 hours.
The next day, whip the chantilly at medium speed until it reaches medium stiff peaks. Transfer to a piping bag, fitted with a nozzle of your choice. Refrigerate until use.

Assembly:

Use a 10cm cake ring and cut out 6 circles of cake from the sheet. Line two 10cm cake rings with acetate or baking paper and place on a baking tray.
Place a layer of chocolate cake at the bottom of each ring.
Soak the chocolate cake with the coffee syrup.
Pour 120g of the mascarpone ganache on top into each ring.
Place another layer of cake on top and press down lightly. Soak the cake with the coffee syrup. Refrigerate for 10 mins.
Pipe a layer of the whipped chantilly on top.
Pipe the salted caramel in the centre.
Place another layer of cake on top and press down lightly.
Soak the cake with the coffee syrup. Refrigerate for 10 mins.
Heat the reserved 100g of glaze in the microwave to 40°C. Tap to remove any air bubbles.
Pour the glaze over the cake and tap the tray on the countertop to smoothen it out. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.
Decorate the cake with more whipped chantilly. Garnish with cocoa nibs. Leave the cake at room temp for 20 mins before serving for best texture. Bon appetite!

Notes:

*- I’ve used Caramilk here because it has a wonderful caramel undertone. If you can get your hands on it, I’d highly recommend. If not, feel free to use regular white chocolate, or caramelise your own white chocolate.

If you enjoyed that and tried it at home, please tag me at @myyummyspatula on Instagram so that I can see all your bakes! For more BTS stories, updates and fun, you can follow along here: