MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE
What would top a tres leches cake?
YES my friends, a tres leches cake but a chocolate tres leches.
Instead of staring off with a simple three ingredient cake base, I decided to give this cake an extra something. I decided to use Ina Garten’s chocolate cake recipe as the base. This is a moist, extra dark and perfectly flavored cake. I am in love with her recipe.
Since this is a already moist cake, you don’t need as much chocolate tres leches, and it still end up almost like a mousse texture. Delicious!
The idea is to make an easy to make dessert and also a quick one. quick, yummy and easy recipe. If you want to, you can make this cake as an actual two layer cake. Use the ganache or some dulce de leche as a filling and cover it completely with ganache or your favorite buttercream. I recommend making this recipe in a square ceramic or glass baking dish. This way you can add more chocolate sauce without having to worry about the structure of the cake, it takes less time to make and it is just as beautiful!
EQUIPMENT:
Ceramic or glass baking dish: Choose a pretty one. Since you are actually serving this cake in the baking dish used a nice white one or one with design, anything you can find.
Mixer: I use my stand mixer for almost everything but a regular one works just as fine. You’ll be using it for the cake batter and, once it cools, for the whipped ganache.
Silicone spatula: Getting every last bit of cake batter from the bowl to the baking dish is soo much easier with a silicone spatula. Also, while making the cake batter, use the spatula to make sure it mixes well and nothing sticks to the bottom or sides of the bowl.
Bowl: You’ll need two big or medium bowls for the cake batter, one for the wet ingredients and the other for the dry ingredients. Also, one for the ganache.
Whisk: The tres leches chocolate sauce is a mixture of sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy whipping cream. To make it chocolate-y add a bit of unsweetened cacao powder. Use the whisk to mix everything including the cacao powder.
Butter knife or pastry spatula: The decoration for this cake is pretty simple. You can use any of these, or a spoon to make the little rustic design with the ganache. It doesn’t have to look perfect! Just have fun with it.
Fork: To help the cake in absorbing the chocolate sauce, you take a fork and make as many holes as you want.
TIPS:
Chocolate sauce: The chocolate sauce doesn’t need any heat, if you can find the can or box of evaporated milk you simply mix everything well and you’re done. My tip in these cases is, since you add the cacao powder at the very end and the liquid is cold, the powder tends to have a few small lumps. Mix it as well as you can and try to get them out hat way but before actually pouring over the cake, pass it through a strainer. This way those extra lumps that don’t want to go away are left behind and you have an amazing chocolate sauce for your cake.
The cake: Once the cake is ready and out of the oven, it usually comes out with a small round belly on top. This belly, has to leave. Using a large knife, like a bread knife for example, slice the belly right off at its base. This way your cake is nice and smooth in the end. If you don’t get that cake belly, don’t worry about this tip.
Decoration: For this cake’s decoration, you have to make a chocolate ganache like you would always do. Heat up the heavy whipping cream and once bubbles start coming up on the sides, turn the heat off and add the chocolate. Stir until completely mixed and place it in the freezer right away. Once its completely cooled down, place the ganache in the bowl of your stand mixer and whip it up until lighter in color and creamy. You can use dulce de leche, whipped cream and chocolate curls, whatever you want to make this a pretty cake.
Putting it all together: the first thing you’ll do, once the cake has cooled is cut that belly on top (if it has one). Using a fork make many many holes all over the cake. Slowly star pouring the chocolate sauce over the cake. Pour a little bit and wait for it to be completely absorbed before adding more. Once the cake doesn’t absorb anymore, save the rest of the sauce for when you will serve the cake. Once the ganache is creamy and light, carefully spread it over the cake and se a spoon or butter knife to make the small curls you see in the photos.
Baking dish: The baking dish I used is a ceramic square dish that is 22 cm long and 6 cm tall. For this dish, I used half of the cake recipe. The idea is to fill the dish 3/4 of the way with the cake batter.
MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE
Ingredients
CAKE
- 1 3/4 Cup all purpose flour
- 2 Cups sugar
- 3/4 Cup cacao powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Cup buttermilk
- 1/2 Cup vegetable oil
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Tsp vanilla
- 1 Cup hot black coffee
CHOCOLATE SAUCE
- 400 ml Sweetened condensed milk
- 400 ml Evaporated milk
- 400 ml Heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup Cacao powder
TOPPING
- 150 gr Heavy whipping cream
- 150 gr Semi sweet chocolate
Instructions
THE CAKE
- Prepare your baking dish with a bit of butter or vegetable spray. Preheat the oven at 350F.
- Add dry ingredients to a bowl, flour, sugar, cacao powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well.
- Add wet ingredients to another bowl, everything but the hot coffee. So, add oil, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Mix well.
- Slowly start adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients while mixing them all together. Once you are done with all the wet ingredients, add the hot coffee and mix well. The batter is thin.
- Pour the batter on the baking dish and bake for about 35 minutess or until when inserting a stick it comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool.
CHOCOLATE SAUCE
- Add the three milks to a bowl and whisk them all together.
- Add cacao powder and whisk together until it turnos chocolate-y and most of the lumps are gone.
- Pour the sauce over a strainer to get rid of all the lumps.
GANACHE
- Place heavy whipping cream on a pot over low heat.
- When the sides start to bubble up, turn the heat off and add the chocolate.
- Mix until completely combined. Place in the freezer to completely cool.
PUTTING THE CAKE TOGETHER
- Using a fork, poke the cake everywhere.
- Slowly start pouring the chocolate sauce over the cake. Wait for it to completely absorb before adding extra sauce. Once the cake stops absorbing the sauce, it's done. Save the rest for serving.
- Whip the ganache until light and cream and carefully spread over the cake.
- Using a spoon or butter knife, make the rustic design.
- Serve with extra chocolate sauce.
