The Most Amazing Chocolate Cake

Home cook Sharmini Jayawardena

The chocolate cake, of which I’ve made at least a dozen times, looks just as chef Darren MacGrady’s chocolate birthday cake for the Queen does. The difference being in the Chef using chocolate ganache for frosting the cake.

Of course the Chef very respectfully does not share the closely guarded recipe of the Queen’s grandmother, Queen Mary, which Queen Elizabeth delighted in.

Take a look below. 

I will share my Amazing Chocolate Cake recipe with you as we go along. I’m not amazed though that it took me this long to share it with you here. I was meant to reserve its introduction to you baking enthusiasts for just this very moment in time. Amazing !!!

Here’s how the Most Amazing Chocolate Cake looks like:

Here’s the Recipe:

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes 
Time to make it: 45 minutes 
Temperature: 170C – 35 minutes 
Or 180C – 30 minutes 

Ingredients 

• Butter and flour for coating tin
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 1 tbls baking soda 
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp sea salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1 ½ cups buttermilk
• 1 ½ cups warm water
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Instruction

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter three 9” cake rounds. Dust with flour and tap out the excess.
3. Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt in a stand hand mixer using low speed until combined.
4. Add eggs, buttermilk, warm water, oil, and vanilla extract. Beat on a medium speed until combined.
5. Divide batter among the three pans. I found that it took over just 3 cups of the batter to divide it evenly.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the cake meets the toothpick test. (Stick a toothpick in and it comes out clean).
7. Cool on wire racks for 15 minutes and then turn out the cakes 

Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Making Time: 10 minutes 

This frosting makes enough to frost a 3 layer cake.

Ingredients 

• 1 ½ cups butter, softened 
• 8 oz cream cheese softened 
• 1 ½ unsweetened cocoa 
• 7-8 cups sugar powder
• 3 tsp vanilla extract 
• about ¼ cup milk (as needed)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, beat together butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer for best results.
2. Add in cocoa powder and vanilla extract. Beat until combined.
3. Beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Add milk as necessary to make a spreadable consistency. The frosting should be very thick and will thicken even more if refrigerated.

Note

In the photo above dark cocoa powder is used in the frosting. Extra cocoa will result in a much darker, almost black frosting.