This is the cake I bake when only chocolate will do — three layers of midnight-dark sponge brushed with espresso syrup, stacked with whipped ganache and finished with a crackling cocoa crust and flaky sea salt. It was born from my grandmother's one-bowl cocoa cake, rebuilt over eleven test bakes until the crumb turned fudgy at the edges and cloud-soft in the middle.
It slices cleanly straight from the fridge, keeps for four days, and has ended more dinner parties on a high note than I can count. If you make one celebration cake this year, make it this one.
Ingredients
- 250g dark chocolate (70%), chopped, plus 150g for the ganache
- 225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 large eggs plus 2 yolks, at room temperature
- 300g golden caster sugar and 100g dark brown sugar
- 240g plain flour, 60g Dutch cocoa and 2 tsp baking powder, sifted
- 1 tsp fine sea salt, plus flaky salt to finish
- 240ml buttermilk and 120ml hot espresso for the syrup
- 200ml double cream, for whipping the ganache
Method
Heat the oven to 175°C. Butter three 20cm tins and line with parchment. Melt the 250g chocolate with the butter over barely simmering water; cool 10 minutes until just warm.
Whisk the eggs, yolks and both sugars for a full 4 minutes until pale and ribboning. Pour in the chocolate mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly.
Fold in half the sifted dry ingredients, then the buttermilk, then the rest of the dries. Divide between tins and bake 32–35 minutes, until the centres just stop wobbling.
Brush the warm layers with hot espresso sweetened with a spoonful of sugar. Cool completely — warm layers melt ganache.
For the ganache, pour hot cream over the 150g chocolate, rest 2 minutes, then stir glossy. Chill 30 minutes and whip to soft peaks.
Stack, crumb-coat and finish with swoops of ganache. Shower with cocoa and flaky salt. Rest 1 hour before slicing with a hot, dry knife.
Elena’s Tips
- Room-temperature eggs whip to triple the volume — cold eggs make a dense cake.
- Underbake by 2 minutes; carryover heat finishes the centres into fudge.
- Layers freeze beautifully for a month — thaw overnight, then ganache fresh.
