Mud cakes are ideal for cake decorating as they are dense enough to hold heavy icing, have an excellent shelf life which allows you to take your time with the decorating process and are very popular!
Ingredients
220g butter
2 tbs instant coffee powder
220g dark chocolate, chopped
160ml water
125g plain flour
125g self-raising flour
50g cocoa powder
480g caster sugar
4 eggs lightly beaten
35ml vegetable oil
100ml milk
Method
- Preheat oven to 140C. Grease and line an 8" (20cm) round / 7" (17.5cm) square tin with baking paper with a collar that extends 2cm above the tin.
- Place the butter, coffee and water in a saucepan and stir over low heat until melted, then remove from heat. Add chocolate and stir until melted through.
- In a separate bowl/jug combine eggs, oil and milk.
- Sift the flours, cocoa and sugar into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre. Add the combined egg, oil and milk followed by the water/chocolate mixture and combine by hand with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. Mix until just combined.
- Pour the mixture into the pre-prepared tin and bake for approx. 2 hours but will vary depending on oven, tin etc. Cake is ready when a wooden skewer comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin before removing.
Baking tips: For even baking, a flower nail placed in the bottom of the tin to conduct heat through the centre of the cake, baking strips around the outside of the tin and a foil lid over the top of the tin will all help prevent the outside from cooking before the centre of the cake.
Storage: Wrap twice in cling film and keep at room temperature if using soon or can be stored in the fridge for 3 weeks. This cake is also very suitable for freezing, add a layer of foil over the two layers of cling film for freezing. Can be frozen for up to 6 months. When defrosting, leave cake wrapped in the cling film and foil until it returns to room temperature.
Recipe adapted from Planet Cake, Paris Cutler, Murdoch Books, 2009