Melt and Mix Chocolate Cake

This delicious chocolate cake is one of the first recipes I ever tried in my Thermomix. You won’t be surprised to learn that the first recipe I tried was a cake but you might be surprised to learn that when I first got my Thermomix I was too scared to use it!

You see, it’s an expensive piece of kitchen kit and the truth is I was so worried that I’d break it or damage it in some way, that I would only use it when David was home. How times change! Now I can’t stop using the Thermomix, and I use it for making everything from soups to salads and cookies to cakes and pretty much everything else in between.

Weirdly, this cake was the first bake I made in my new oven. It was the perfect test cake to bake because it’s super quick, super light, super easy and doesn’t use a lorry load of ingredients. As if all that’s not tempting enough, you can make this cake quicker than you can go to the shops to buy one (unless of course, you live next door to a supermarket!) Originally this was a Thermomix recipe but I’ve added traditional instructions too, because this all in one recipe is a doddle with or without a Thermomix.

This recipe is very forgiving, I’ve swapped out regular milk for almond milk and even coconut milk, and the results are consistently delish! I like to serve it with a sprinkling of icing sugar, or if I’m feeling really fancy, some chocolate ganache, because there’s no such thing as too much chocolate is there?

Have you ever been afraid to use a kitchen appliance? Do you think there is such a thing as too much chocolate?

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

120g butter, melted

2 eggs

100g milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

120g sugar

120g self-raising flour

30g cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

FOR THE GANACHE

50g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

40g cream

How to – Traditional

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan-forced. Lightly grease and line the base of a 7 inch round pan with baking paper.
Melt the butter.
Place the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add the melted butter and mix with a hand held mixer until combined.
Pour into cake tin and bake in centre of pre-heated oven for 25-35 minutes.
To make the ganache: Place the chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a metal spoon until smooth. Remove bowl from heat. The ganache will be runny and creamy. Set aside at room temperature to cool, stirring occasionally, until the ganache is thick and spreadable.

How to – Thermomix

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan-forced. Lightly grease and line the base of a 7 inch round pan with baking paper.
Place butter in TM bowl and melt for 2 minutes at 60C on speed 4.
Add remaining ingredients and mix for 30 seconds on speed 5.
Pour into cake tin and bake in centre of pre-heated oven for 25-35 minutes.
To make the ganache: Place chocolate in TM bowl and grate for 30 seconds on speed 8. Add cream and cook for 2 minutes at 50C on speed 5. The consistency will be runny and creamy. Set aside at room temperature to cool, stirring occasionally, until the ganache is thick and spreadable.