Matilda Chocolate Cake
The Matilda chocolate cake is a decadent dessert inspired by the iconic scene from the beloved children's story "Matilda" by Roald Dahl. This cake is a rich, moist chocolate sponge with a layer of creamy chocolate ganache that melts in your mouth.
Ingredients
Ganache
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup sugar
100 g chocolate *
50 g butter
Cake
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup buttermilk *
vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup hot water
* I used a mixture of 50 g milk and 50 g dark chocolate.
* Buttermilk substitute: 1/2 cup milk & 1/2 tbsp vinegar.
Method
Ganache
Melt the sugar and cream in a saucepan or the microwave.
Add the chocolate and butter. Using a hand blender, blend the mixture until smooth.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until thick. *
Cake
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a 9” cake pan with baking paper.
If using the buttermilk substitute, combine the vinegar and milk and let sit for 5 minutes.
In a bowl, sift the dry ingredients.
Whisk in the sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and egg.
Slowly stream in the hot water while whisking.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Allow the cake to cool, then top it with the chilled ganache.
* Notes:
You can top the cake by spreading the fully set ganache or pouring it on top when still slightly runny.
This recipe can be doubled to create a two layer cake, just make sure that the ganache is fully set so that the cake doesn’t slide off.
The cake can also be sliced in half with half of the ganache filled in between the layers of cake and the other half on top.
