Very Best Chocolate Fudge Cake

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Who doesn’t love Chocolate Fudge Cake?!?! This cake is pure chocolate heaven smothered in a thick layer of chocolate ganache! Plus, this Chocolate Fudge Cake gets an additional bit of je-ne-sais-quoi by adding some apricot jam in between the layers – a fabulous addition for many different reasons I have listed below!

This recipe is adapted from Mary Berry’s Very Best Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe from her Baking Bible. To date, this is probably my favourite baking book in the whole-wide world! One of the first I ever owned, an absolute must for every baker, and it just delivers time and time again! I do have a few close runners-up baking books though which you can check out in this post here if you are interested.

For now though, let’s get stuck into my interpretation of this Chocolate Fudge Cake!

How to make this Very Best Chocolate Fudge Cake

This chocolate fudge cake is extremely easy to make! The cake recipe follows the all-in-one method, the easiest cake making method out there! It does exactly what it says on the tin, namely that all ingredients are added to the bowl at once, mixed together, and voilà – the cake batter is ready to be baked! It really could not be any easier!

You might be wondering why the below recipe calls for adding extra baking powder when it already used self-raising flour. As the ingredients are just quickly combined when using the all-in-one method, no extra air is added for example from creaming together the butter and sugar or whisking the eggs. Hence why I like to add a little bit of baking powder to help the cakes get than extra bit of rice.

Chocolate ganache is also a lot easier to make than you may think! All you do is pour some warmed cream over chopped chocolate, briefly wait for the chocolate to melt, and then stir together until shiny and smooth. Leave the ganache to cool and thicken at room temperature to reach the right consistency for decorating, as it may lose its shine if you put it in the fridge!

Why Apricot Jam makes all the Difference

This Chocolate Fudge Cake really is amazing – and adding apricot jam in between layers is the ULTIMATE HACK to make chocolate cakes a million times better! Kudos to every recipe that already includes it, then just double the quantities because it is simply an insane combo! If you don’t like the chocolate and orange flavour combination, then I’d still recommend using a little bit of apricot jam (you won’t taste it) but will get all the additional benefits Brushing the sponges with apricot jam is great for a number of reasons:

It helps stick down any crumbs (especially if you’ve trimmed the top of the cakes) and stops them from going into the icing when decorating.
It helps keep the cake lovely and moist for a few days.
Chocolate orange is undoubtedly one of the best flavour combinations that ever came into existence!

If you have never tried this before then please do and let me know what you think! I would recommend doing this for any kind of chocolate cake you make, and applied the same trick when making Mary Berry’s Beetroot and Chocolate Traybake.

How to add an extra twist to this Chocolate Fudge Cake

If you have been following my blog for a while then you know that I am bad at sticking to recipes. I tend to use them as more of a starting point and then let my creativity run wild to add my own little twists. Same goes for this Chocolate Fudge Cake for which I have thought up a few extra twists for you, too (although the below recipe is already very good!).

One thing you could do if you would like to reduce the amount of chocolate slightly, is to half the recipe for the ganache, making only enough to cover the top and sides of the cake. You could then whip the remaining (75ml) of double cream and then just sandwich the cakes with a layer of freshly whipped cream.

Regardless of whether you sandwich the two cakes with chocolate ganache or whipped cream, for a nice (summer) twist, you could also put some fresh raspberries or even strawberries in the middle of the cake. A little acidity from the fruit would off-set the richness from the chocolate very nicely I think! You could also choose to decorate the top of the cake with fresh fruit, just like I did in this recipe for the Great British Bake Off Signature Chocolate Cake.

Finally, you could also go the extra mile and make some other chocolate decorations for this cake, too, a few examples of which you can find in my How to Master Chocolate | Baking Basics #2 post!

More delicious Cake Recipes!

I love baking cakes and I have a lot more delicious cake recipes here on my blog! I have listed a few of my favourites below, so make sure you go and check those out, too!

Very Best Chocolate Fudge Cake Mary Berry

Very Best Chocolate Fudge Cake | With Chocolate Ganache and Apricot Jam

Recipe

Ingredients:

FOR THE CAKE:

50g cocoa powder, sifted
6 tbsp boiling water
3 L eggs, at room temperature
50ml milk, at room temperature
175g self-raising flour
1 rounded tsp baking powder
100g butter, softened/at room temperature
275g caster sugar

FOR THE GANACHE AND FILLING:

4-5 tbsp apricot jam
150g dark chocolate
150ml double cream

YOU WILL ALSO NEED:

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C, then lightly grease the tins and line the base with baking paper.
Stir together the cocoa powder and boiling water in a large mixing bowl until they form a chocolatey paste. Then add in all of the remaining cake ingredients and beat with a wooden spoon or electric whisk just until everything is well combined and the batter is smooth.
Divide the mixture equally between the two prepared tins and level the surface.
Bake the cakes in the preheated oven (ideally on the same shelf) for 25-30 minutes, or until they have risen, start shrinking away from the sides of the tin and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for 10 minutes, then carefully remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the ganache, break/chop the chocolate into fairly small pieces and place into a glass (or heatproof) bowl. Gently warm the cream in a pot over a low heat until just below boiling point. Then pour over the chocolate, cover the bowl with a large plate and leave to sit for about a minute. Then stir the mixture until all of the chocolate has melted into the cream and you end up with a thick, glossy ganache. Set aside for 30-60 minutes (depending on the warmth of your kitchen) and leave to thicken slightly.
To assemble the cake, remove the baking parchment from the cooled cakes and place one cake onto a serving plate. You may want to trim off some of the top of the cakes to level the surface slightly if your cakes have domed a little in the middle. Have the other cake turned upside down (base facing upwards) in preparation for the next step.
Gently warm the apricot in short bursts in the microwave (or do this in a small pot over a low heat) until it is a little runnier and easier to spread. Spread half of the jam over the top of the bottom cake, and the other half onto the base of the other.
Once the ganache has reached a thick, spreadable consistency and is just before the point of setting, you are ready to ice. Spread half of the ganache over the bottom cake, then set the second cake (base facing up) on top and press down gently to sandwich the two cakes together. Then spread the remaining ganache over the top of the cake and then you can either leave the sides of the cake bare, or cover them in a thin layer of the ganache, too. Use a small palette knife or metal spoon to smooth the icing and create a little pattern on top.
Keep the cake in a cool place (not the fridge, or the chocolate will lose its shine) until set and ready to serve. Enjoy!