Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache–Celebrating six years of blogging!!!

    The holiday season is over too soon, right! I took it a bit slow with the blog in December as we had endless number of parties, and with it came loads of cooking. And I got so tired that I didn’t even have the energy to blog. 🙁

But recently I got hooked to baking! Wanna know how? Well, little Aarav is now pointing to cakes and cookies in magazines or TV and demands me to make them for him. I shooed him away at first. But since i don’t have the heart to turn down the request of my little man, I started off with a simple pound cake and these M&M cookies. Aarav got totally excited and he watched me bake them! I got so happy with the results that I have been baking cakes, cookies and brownies since then, and we pack and share it with Aarav’s  little friends in our neighborhood and also with our friends who enjoy them.

Anyways baking mania is on in my kitchen, and in this weather baking warms up the kitchen a little bit so I am loving it!

    And guys…. You know what??? I have completed 6 years of blogging last week!  Yes, I did!!! 🙂 I thank you all from the deep bottom of my heart for showering the blog with your love 🙂 To celebrate, I am sharing this killer chocolate cake recipe which was a big hit with my husband, kid and friends. So here goes the recipe.

Ingredients

1. Butter – 1 cup (2 sticks)

Unsweetened coco powder – 1/3 cup

Water – 1 cup

2. All purpose flour – 2 cup

Sugar – 1 3/4 cup

Espresso / instant coffee powder(I used bru instant) – 3/4 tsp

Salt – 3/4 tsp

Baking soda – 2 tsp

3. Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

Eggs – 2 large

4. Sour cream – 1/2 cup

For the ganache

5. Heavy cream – 1/3 cup

Semi-sweet chocolate chips – 1/2 cup

Salt – 1 pinch

Butter – 1.5 tsp, room temperature

Method

1. Preheat the oven at 350 F.

2. Spray a 12 cup bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the all purpose flour, sugar, espresso, salt and baking soda (ingredients numbered 2).

4. Combine the butter, cocoa powder and water in a medium sauce pan. Place it over medium heat and stir until the butter is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from  heat and allow to cool for about 12 – 15 minutes.

5. Add the flour mixture (dry ingredients) to the melted butter mixture in two batches and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla extract and eggs, one by one whisking after each addition. Finally add the sour cream and whisk until just combined (do not over mix).

6. Add the batter to the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes at 350 F until a  tooth pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Take it out of the oven and set aside for 10 – 15 minutes. Invert to a plate or a wire rack to cool completely.

7. For the ganache – Heat the heavy cream in a small pan over medium heat until just hot. Remove from stove. Add the chocolate chips and let sit for 1 minute. Add the butter, a pinch of salt and whisk everything together until the chocolate melts completely.
9) Pour the ganache over the chocolate cake. Allow it to set for 1 – 2 hrs. Slice and enjoy!