The perfect chocolate cake recipe for lazy people

This chocolate cake will make you swoon, says Ella Walker

Wednesday 29 December 2021 09:15 GMT
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A gleaming cake that looks like you spent forever on it
A gleaming cake that looks like you spent forever on it (PA)

For your eating pleasure, I spent weeks testing different variations of chocolate cake. I knew what I wanted: something wonderfully moist, a touch bitter, light, quick to make and beautiful,” says chef and food writer Ravneet Gill.

“The perfect lazy person’s cake. It had to be a gleaming beauty that looked like you’d spent forever on it, when in reality it involved very little effort. We make this cake for people we care about, but don’t have much time for. Fringe friends, you might say.”

LPC (Lazy Person’s Cake)

Makes: a 20cm cake

Ingredients:

For the wet cake mix:

175ml olive oil, not overly strong, plus extra for the tins

2 eggs

175ml buttermilk

170ml boiling water

5g/1 tsp instant coffee

For the dry cake mix:

125g caster sugar

125g light brown sugar

80g cocoa powder

230g plain flour

5g/1 tsp sea salt flakes

10g/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

5g/1 tsp baking powder

For the malt chocolate ganache:

150g 70% cocoa solids chocolate, chopped

50g 55 % cocoa solids chocolate, chopped

Pinch of sea salt flakes

300g double cream

1tbsp malt extract (alternatively use black treacle, maple syrup or honey)

Method:

1. I want to blaze through this recipe as quick as you, so here we go! Preheat the oven to 160C fan/180C/gas mark 4. Grease two 20cm cake tins with oil, then line with baking paper.

2. Weigh all the dry cake mix ingredients into a large bowl and stir together with a whisk to fully combine (if the sugar is lumpy, you will have to sift it).

3. Weigh all the wet cake mix ingredients, except the water and coffee, into a large bowl and whisk together. Make the coffee in a cup with the measured boiling water and instant coffee, pour it into the wet ingredients bowl and stir well.

4. Add the dry mix to the wet mix and stir well with a whisk to combine. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins (if you want to be precise, you can weigh the total batter, then divide it exactly in half). Bake for 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before flipping onto a wire rack (allow to cool fully before adding the ganache you’re about to make).

6. To make the ganache, put both the chocolates and the salt in a large heatproof bowl.

7. In a saucepan, heat the cream with the malt extract until steaming, but not boiling.

8. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and leave for one minute. Use a whisk to stir the ganache from the middle outwards – so as not to whisk in any air – until silky and beautiful. Let the ganache sit for 10 minutes.

Rav is back to serve up some more gems to help you build up your baking armory

9. Take a large plate with a lip. Place a cooled cake on the plate and spoon over enough ganache to cover the top. Don’t worry if it spills over the edges, we kind of want this. Place the next cake on top. Pour the remaining ganache all over the top, without a care in the world. Use a spoon to guide it over, making sure plenty of ganache is falling down the sides. Put the cake in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

10. Remove the cake from the fridge and, using a small offset palette knife, scoop up the set ganache from the edges of the plate and spread over the sides to create a smooth finish. It really is that easy and effortless. You’ll have your friends thinking you really care…

This cake keeps best in an airtight container at room temperature for three days. If storing in the fridge, allow to come to room temp before eating – it’ll be much nicer! I recommend warming up a slice in the microwave for 20 seconds and pouring cold cream all over it.

Recipe extracted from ‘Sugar, I Love You: Knockout Recipes To Celebrate The Sweeter Things In Life’ by Ravneet Gill (published by Pavilion Books, £20; photography by Ellis Parrinder), available now.

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