Once a month  Nicola, Tasha and I get together to shoot all the images for the weekly food posts. We are all extremely passionate about food, and every month we tell each other about our favourite recipes and promise to share them. But instead of emailing them to each other we have decided to share 3 of our best chocolate cake recipes with you! That means that you not only get one, but three yummy recipes. All 3 cakes were DELICIOUS, really moist, and really luxurious. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Tasha: ‘Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse’ Chocolate Tray Bake:

Ingredients:

• 125ml sunflower oil
• 125g butter
• 125ml cocoa
• 250ml water
• 400g light brown sugar
• 300g cake flour
• 1 tsp bicarb pinch of salt
• 125ml plain yoghurt
• 2 eggs
• 5ml vanilla extract

For the icing:

• 200g icing sugar
• 2 Tbsp cocoa
• 75g butter, softened
• 3 Tbsp yoghurt
• 5ml vanilla extract
• 100g dark chocolate (I use Lindt 70%, but Bournville would be fine)

Method:

1. Bring the oil, butter, cocoa and water just to the boil in a pan.
2. Mix the sugar, flour, bicarb and salt together in a bowl.
3. Mix the yoghurt, eggs and vanilla together in a large bowl then add everything together bit by bit and stir well.
4. Place in a greased, lined baking tin 22x32cm and bake at 180oC for 25-30mins
5. Let it cool for 20 mins in the tin and turn out onto a wire rack.
6. Mix the icing sugar, cocoa, butter, yoghurt and vanilla together well and ice the cake
7. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and let it cool a little but not harden. Pour into a sandwich bag, snip off one of the corners and drizzle the melted chocolate all over the cake in zig zags (or however the mood takes you!)
8. Eat and enjoy! This cake gets better the next day so you can make it the day before you need it with no worries.

Nicola: Easy Chocolate Cake:

(Makes one large cake)

I came across this cake in 2004 when I worked at La Colombe Restaurant in Constantia. Sous chef, Kerry Warren,  would bake this cake whenever there was a birthday in the restaurant. This cake is moist and rich and the texture reminds me of a brownie. The cheat’s chocolate ganache was “invented” by food editor Vickie de Beer who I worked for, for her son’s 13th birthday party. I added the simple syrup because, in my opinion, a chocolate cake can never be too moist.

Ingredients:

• 390 g (3 cups) cake flour
• 95 g (1 cup) cocoa
• 15 ml (3 t) baking soda
• 5 ml (1 tsp) salt
• 500 g  (2 1/2 cups) sugar
• 320 g butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 500ml (2 cups) milk
• 4 eggs
• 10 ml (2 tsp) vinegar
• 10 ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract

Cheat’s ganache:

• 2 tins Caramel Treat
• 200 g dark chocolate

Simple syrup:

• 200 g (1 cup) castor sugar
• 250 ml (1 cup) water

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 C
• Grease two 26 cm spring form tins.
• Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda. Add the salt and sugar.
• Mix the melted butter, milk, eggs vinegar and vanilla and add to the dry ingredients.
• Pour in the greased tins and bake for 1 hour.Remove from the oven and spoon the hot syrup over the hot cake. Leave to cool in the cake tin.
• For the cheat’s ganache: Beat the Caramel Treat until there are no lumps. Then add the melted chocolate and beat until smooth and shiny.
• For the syrup: Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Stir medium- low heat until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid clear, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• To assemble: Remove the cakes form the tins and place one on a cake stand, spread with the cheat’s ganache, then put remaining half on top and cover with ganache.

Ilse: Donna Hay’s chocolate buttermilk layer cake:

The reason that I love this cake so much, is that it is really moist and dense – the recipe does not include any baking powder, but rather buttermilk and a small amount of baking soda. It delivers big time on the wow factor as well! I double the recipe for maximum height and effect, and it’s always a hit. The chocolate cream cheese icing is also ultra smooth and almost tastes like a rich chocolate mousse.

Ingredients:

(makes one medium sized cake with 2 layers, but I double the recipe to make one large cake with 4 layers, baking it in 2 batches)

• 1 cup (250 ml) water 125 g butter, cubed
• 1/3 cup (35 g) cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 cups (300 g) flour, sifted
• 1 t (5 ml) baking soda, sifted (bicarbonate of soda)
• 2 cups (440 g) caster sugar
• 2 eggs ½ cup (125 ml) buttermilk
• 1 t (5 ml) vanilla essence/extract
• For the frosting: (Donna uses 500 g cream cheese, but I found that 250 g is sufficient)
• 100 g butter, softened
• 250 g cream cheese at room temperature
• 2 cups icing sugar, sifted
• ½ cup (50 g) cocoa powder, sifted

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 160 C.
2. Place water, butter and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until butter has melted.Remove from heat.
3. Place flour, baking soda and sugar in a bowl, add the cocoa mixture and whisk to combine. Add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and whisk to combine.
4. Divide mixture between 2 greased and lined 20 cm round cake tins, then bake for 40-45 min or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
5. Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out on wire racks to cool completely.
6. For the frosting: place the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 6-8 minutes until pale and creamy. Add the icing sugar and cocoa and beat for a further 6-8 minutes until light and fluffy.
7. To assembly, slice off the round tops of each cake layer to produce 2 smooth, flat layers (I use a long blade sharp knife). Place one layer on a plate, spread with frosting, then put remaining half on top and cover with frosting.