Yet another chocolate birthday cake!

Truth is, tough to please birthday boy only likes chocolate cake, and even then, he’s very demanding. The brownies I made for him were a bit too dry, Claudia’s cake was a bit too strong… But I’m not one to give up.

This cake is still a dark chocolate lover’s affair, dense and moist, with a rich ganache frosting. But it’s the decoration I had most fun with, this time.

Chocolate Meteor Cake

For the cake:
200g dark chocolate
250g sugar
150g butter
3 Eggs
170g plain flour
200ml heavy cream
2 extra tbsp sugar

For the ganache and truffles:
200g dark chocolate
200ml heavy cream
Cocoa powder
Powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Butter and flour a round removable bottom pan.

Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler. (At this time, you can use a couple of spoonfuls to create some decorations, by drawing some scribble shapes on a vegetable paper covered tray, and freezing it.) Then, add the butter, and when melted, the sugar.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until foamy, and slowly add the chocolate mixture, always stirring. When uniform, add the flour to the mix, folding carefully.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with crumbles. Just before removing from the oven, heat the cream with the 2 tablespoons of sugar in a small saucepan, until boiling. Take the cake out, and while still hot, prick it all over with a toothpick and then pour the cream over it. Let it rest and cool, while it soaks in the cream and you make the frosting.

For the ganache, heat the cream in a small saucepan. In a bowl, break the dark chocolate into small pieces, and when the cream comes to a boil, pour it onto the chocolate. Mix well until smooth and let it cool down for a bit.

Remove the cake from the pan, and place it on a serving plate. Pour half of the ganache on the centre of the cake, and then smooth it over with a spatula. Pour the remaining ganache in a shallow dish and chill both the cake and the ganache for a couple of hours.

To decorate, dust the top of the cake with cocoa powder. Then, dust the central area with powdered sugar. With a teaspoon and your own hands, mold some small ganache truffles, and coat them in the cocoa powder. Decorate the cake with the chocolate truffles and the dark chocolate scribbles you left in the freezer.