Salty Chocolate Fudge Cake

As a kid, chocolate cake was my ultimate favourite sweet thing to eat. I have memories of going to Dennys with my family; my sister and I would share a hot chocolate fudge cake, which came with chocolate fudge sauce and vanilla ice cream. I’d always feel sick afterwards, but it was so worth it. Over time, I had slowly started to gravitate away from chocolate desserts finding them too sweet but I’ve recently rediscovered my love for the classic.

This recipe isn’t your Denny’s chocolate cake recipe though; it’s how my grown-up self likes to eat chocolate cake. It’s rich, decadent, balanced and most importantly, it’s not overly sweet. The salt and chocolate combo works so well and nowadays I almost always want salt with my chocolate. Also, the combination of white and brown sugars gives this cake a really nice flavour that goes beyond just sweeting it.

Since most of the ingredients in this cake are pretty basic, I would encourage you to get the best quality chocolate you can afford because it will make a difference to the flavour. Also, if the amount of salt freaks you out, skip salting the bottom and sides of the cake tin, but please don’t skimp on the top of the cake. It is after all a Salty Chocolate Fudge Cake.

You can make it ahead to serve later in the evening or even a couple days in advance because it actually gets better over time! Once baked, store in an airtight container and it should last for a whole week. Can be eaten alone, but best served with a good quality vanilla bean ice cream.

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Salty Chocolate Fudge Cake

Yield: 6-8

Ingredients

• 200g dark chocolate, chopped roughly (I use 70%)
• 150g unsalted butter, chopped roughly. More for greasing cake tin.
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, sifted
• ½ cup (125ml) thickened cream
• ½ teaspoon fine salt, I use Himalayan pink salt
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• ½ cup (85g) brown sugar
• 2/3 cup (165g) caster sugar
• 2/3 cup (80g) plain flour
• Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan forced).
2. In a medium saucepan place chocolate and butter and melt over low heat, stirring gently until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and add the cocoa and thickened cream and stir to combine*. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. In a large mixing bowl, place the eggs and both the sugars. Using an electric mixer with whisk attachments, whisk on high speed for 5-7 minutes or until thick, pale in colour and creamy.
4. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk to just combined, ensuring to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour and fine salt, then whisk until just combined.
5. Using a generous amount of butter, grease a 22cm round non-stick springform cake** tin and sprinkle flaky sea salt around the base and sides so it sticks to the butter. Place the tin on top of another flat baking sheet to make it easier to carry and account for any leaking.
6. Pour the cake mixture into the tin, sprinkle the top with more flaky salt and bake for 30-40 minutes. The cake should look set but when you feel the middle, it should feel slightly soft (in comparison to the sides of the cake). Allow to cool completely in the tin.
7. To serve, remove the cake from the tin, slice and serve with vanilla bean ice cream.

Notes

*The mixture may look a little curdled depending on the cocoa powder you’re using. Don’t worry about it, it will be fine when everything is combined.

**if your springform tin leaks, line the bottom with a piece of baking paper large enough that it wedges between the base and ring, then place the ring on. This should make the tin tight enough so it doesn’t leak. Then just butter and salt the sides of the pan. 

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