BAKING

CHOCOLATE SPONGE CAKE with a GANACHE ICING

2007/12/28 / 15 Comments
“Chocolate is ground from the beans of happiness. ”

Alexis F. Hope
IMG 9729
Chocolate Sponge Cake with a Ganache Icing
And now finally, the recipe, as I had promised, for the Chocolate Cake I made for my household helps’ son . Sorry this is late, but life is busy, busy, busy!! The kids are home for the holidays; they are ALWAYS hungry; the daughter’s birthday is around the corner… & everything is happening all at once!!

IMG 9743

Chocolate is special, it’s addictive & it’s a universal favourite.

Am posting this for JFI – January, a blog event which I committed to, & very nearly missed. It’s hosted this time by Deepz at Letz Cook, who has picked every body’s favourite ingredient…CHOCOLATE!! Great choice Deepz…
Ingredients:

Sponge

Eggs – 3 (150gms)
Powdered Sugar – 75 gms
Flour – 50gms

Cornflour – 1 tbs (makes the cake texture lighter)
Cocoa – 2 tbsps
Baking powder – 1tsp
Salt – 1 pinch
Vanilla Essence/Extract – 1 tsp
Topping:
Cream – 400ml (whipping/35% fat)
Dark chocolate – 100gms (for the ganache)
Icing Sugar – 3-4 Tbsp
Cocoa – 1 tbsp
Chocolate flakes etc for decoration

IMG 9745

Method:
For the sponge
  • Preheat oven to 180deg C.Grease and line a 6″ring tin
  • Sift the flour + baking powder + salt + cornflour + cocoa 3 times.
  • Beat the eggs and sugar well with beater till very thick ribbon falls and holds in place for at least 5 seconds (beat for approx 10mins)
  • Add vanilla essence and beat for 1 min.
  • Gently fold in the sifted flour; mix lightly so that air doesn’t escape.
  • If the batter is too thick, add 1-2 tbsp of milk.
  • Turn gently into tin and bake for 30-35mins till done.
  • Once done, remove from tin after 5 mins and leave on rack to cool completely.
  • Cut horizontally into 3 layers.
  • Filling:
  • Whip 200ml whipping cream with 3 tbs powdered sugar until thick and holds peaks.
  • Whip in the cocoa powder .
  • Place the bottom most layer of the sponge on your serving platter, spread 1/2 of the whipped cream over it.
  • Place the middle layer over this, and repeat with the rest of the cream.
  • Topping:
  • While the cake is baking, put 200ml cream with the dark chocolate on simmer & continue to stir till the chocolate has melted. Take off heat & allow to cool completely. This will thicken as it cools.
  • Spread the ganache over the top and sides of the cake.
  • Decorate the edges with chocolate flakes. Sprinkle 100’2 & 1000’s over the top. Drizzle with melted chocolate.
  • Chill well before serving.
  • Note: If the ganache is too thin, add a little more chocolate and heat on low till melted; and then cool. And, if the ganache is too thick, add a little more cream & repeat procedure.
IMG 9737 Sprinkle the chocolate flakes just after putting the ganache on i.e. before it sets, otherwise it won’t hold the flakes. The same for any other decorations.
“All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt!”
Charles Schulz
Posted by Deeba @ PAB

About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

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15 Comments

  • Anonymous

    2007/12/29 at 6:24 am Reply

    lovely cake and looks so tempting.

    i tried this today but what happened is i whipped cream with sugar and it was firm and then i added coca powder and beat it again, it started curdling like milk, water seperated and butter seperated and i disposed everything. we just ate plain cake.

    what’s wrong i did? is it together sugar and coca powder i need to beat for how much time pls advice me

  • KayKat

    2007/12/29 at 10:08 am Reply

    Oooo … I love staring at chocolate! I like it almost as much as eating it, which I just did 🙂

  • Passionate baker...& beyond

    2007/12/29 at 3:40 pm Reply

    Thanks Manggy…loved the Opera cake you posted. Am still dreaming about it!!
    Hi Anonymous..I think it must be the cream which is different. Mine didnt whip up too firm to begin with, & got really stiff when I added the cocoa.Basically, after the cocoa is added, you just need to whip for 30 seconds just to incorporate the cocoa. The cream we get in India is not essentially whipping cream, so you need to experiment & see what works best for you. Temperature also plays a major role. Is it very warm where you are?
    Thanks Sagari…have a great new year.
    And a wonderful new year to you too Kaykat…thanks!

  • Passionate baker...& beyond

    2007/12/29 at 3:40 pm Reply

    Thanks Manggy…loved the Opera cake you posted. Am still dreaming about it!!
    Hi Anonymous..I think it must be the cream which is different. Mine didnt whip up too firm to begin with, & got really stiff when I added the cocoa.Basically, after the cocoa is added, you just need to whip for 30 seconds just to incorporate the cocoa. The cream we get in India is not essentially whipping cream, so you need to experiment & see what works best for you. Temperature also plays a major role. Is it very warm where you are?
    Thanks Sagari…have a great new year.
    And a wonderful new year to you too Kaykat…thanks!

  • jane

    2008/02/04 at 11:29 pm Reply

    Hi,
    I’m so longing to dig into moist indian chocolate cake. The ones out here just don’t taste the same.
    What is the brand of chocolate did you use and the cocoa powder?
    your site is just wonderful.

    thanks,
    jane.

  • Anonymous

    2008/10/15 at 2:23 pm Reply

    Hi!ur cakes keep tempting me every time i look at them.so i just might make one..just one question..since i m not a big fan of basic sponge cakes..wanted to know if ur recipe gives the cake an’eggy’ smell n does the cake turn out moist?
    Thanks,San.

  • Parita

    2009/02/25 at 3:41 pm Reply

    Hi Deeba, I have tried this recipe couple of times and it has turned out to be great :), one question, the last time i tried the cake didnt come out to be moist little on harder side? also can i incorporate butter in this recipe? do you think this will help the cake to come out moist and soft?

    Thanks in advance.

  • Passionate About Baking

    2009/02/25 at 4:53 pm Reply

    Hi Parita, I think it may not have been too moist this time because it got slighlty overbaked. I think you can experiment with adding 2-3 tbsps of oil in the sponge, or then try this recipe here (where you can substitute 3 tbsps of flour with cocoa & omit the orange extract). Do mail me at vindee@airtelmail.in if you need anything else. Take care

  • Rita.

    2009/07/02 at 6:13 am Reply

    Hi, i tried this cake yesterday..It tastes good but it has not become soft at all.It did not rise v.well n seems harder and has a rubbery kind of feeling. I followed the exact procedure.Dnt know wat mst hav gone wrong..I mixed the Eggs and Sugar v.well for a long time but with an Egg whisker as i dint want to use my mixer late evening..Is that the problem..?Or is it because of not using butter/oil at all..?
    Pls let me know.thanks.

  • shivani

    2011/06/01 at 12:34 pm Reply

    i made this cake with ganache filling n topping for my hubbys b’day n everyone loved it. My son licked the ganache bowl clean. I tired making whipped cream but amul cream just did not whip up i even tried adding butter but the cream did not hold up. Do you think adding home malai will make the cream heavy n i’ll be able to whip it.

  • CBelle

    2012/05/28 at 5:41 am Reply

    Hey Deeba, Whenever I try recipes like sponge cake or Chiffon cake or Angel Food cake, my cakes end up with obnoxious EGGY ODOR. Any idea how to remove this awful smell?? I used fresh eggs (with more than a month away from “Use by” date.) I also smelled each raw egg before using them in the batter. STILL, this happens. What is the reason & HOW TO SOLVE this problem?

  • pia

    2013/01/05 at 8:24 pm Reply

    I would like to show some gratitude to these great recipe ingredients. I recently achieved it plus it attained excellent: -)
    Excellent blog site using pastry tested recipes I personally for anyone who is serious. I have a blog with cake recipes myself if you are interested. You can find it at

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