“This is such a moist, moreish chocolate cake. The cola is primarily included to enhance the overall chocolateyness, but it also prevents the cake from being too rich and intense. It’s a great birthday cake for little ones but adults will love it, too: a shoo-in recipe for the birthday cake slot, for everyone from eight to 80.”
Chocolate cola cake
SERVES 12-16. HANDS-ON TIME 45 MIN, OVEN TIME 25-35 MIN, PLUS CHILLING AND COOLING
MAKE AHEAD Make the sponges up to 24 hours ahead and keep in an airtight container in a cool place, or freeze wrapped in cling film for up to 1 month. The finished cake will keep chilled, covered with cling film, for up to 4 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.
FOOD TEAM’S TIPS This recipe is for a large cake, so we recommend you use 20cm, deep cake tins, ideally loose-bottomed, rather than shallower sandwich tins.
For a step-by-step guide to evenly slicing sponges in half, see deliciousmag.co.uk/stories/how-to-slice-a-plain-spongehorizontally/
PER SERVING (FOR 16) 535kcals, 29.3g fat (17.6g saturated), 7.1g protein, 59.4g carbs (43.6g sugars), 0.5g salt, 2.4g fibre
JOHN’S GOLDEN RULES
• Line the cake tin with baking paper. So many people miss out this stage and they end up with a torn, burnt cake… Lining prevents the cake from sticking and it also adds extra protection from the intense heat of the oven.
• Know your oven. Does it run on the hot side or the cool side? If you feel it’s a little on the hot side, knock the temperature down by 10°C. It’s better to bake a cake a little lower, for a little longer, than to burn it.
• Let the chocolate frosting set until it’s thick enough to spread and hold its shape (step 6).
• When icing the cake, cover the cake stand with 4 strips of baking paper, slightly overlapping, then put the first sponge on top. Once the cake is iced, carefully pull away the strips of baking paper and the cake stand will be left perfectly clean.
• Applying the frosting is easier with a small, offset palette knife. They’re one of my most used pieces of equipment. I even use one to spread jam on my toast!
FOR THE SPONGES
• 120g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
• 250ml cola
• 250g dark brown muscovado sugar
• 120g caster sugar
• 80g cocoa powder
• 4 large free-range eggs
• 200ml buttermilk
• 320g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
FOR THE CHOCOLATE FROSTING
• 400g Bournville chocolate, roughly chopped
• 100ml cola
• 100ml water
• 250g unsalted butter, diced
• 50g dark muscovado sugar
• Cocoa powder to dust (optional)
1. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. For the sponges, butter and line 2 x 20cm, deep cake tins (preferably loose bottomed – see tips) with baking paper.
2. In a jug, stir the 250ml cola and 250g dark brown muscovado sugar until the sugar has more or less dissolved. Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the 120g butter and caster sugar for 3-4 minutes until pale and light in texture. Sift in the cocoa powder and beat again to form a brown paste.
4. In a separate jug, whisk the eggs with the buttermilk until smooth, then slowly pour into the cocoa paste, beating constantly. Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda over the mixture and beat in. Pour the cola-muscovado mixture into the bowl and beat to a smooth, fairly loose batter.
5. Divide the batter equally between the prepared cake tins and bake for 25-35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool the sponges in the tins for 5 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool.
6. For the frosting, put the chocolate into a large heatproof bowl. Heat the cola, water and butter in a pan until the butter melts completely and the mixture starts to boil. Remove from the heat and pour over the chopped chocolate. Leave the mixture to rest for a minute so the intense heat of the liquid melts the chocolate, then bring together with a balloon whisk until smooth and glossy. Cover the frosting with a sheet of cling film directly touching the surface, allow to cool completely, then chill, stirring occasionally, until stiffened to a spreadable consistency – it should take around an hour.
7. Once the sponges have cooled completely, evenly slice each in half horizontally with a large bread knife (or see tips) so you have 4 sponges. When the frosting has thickened, place one sponge onto a cake stand (see John’s Golden Rules). Using a palette knife (again, see John’s rules), spread with a thin layer of frosting, then put another sponge on top and spread over more frosting. Repeat with the remaining sponge layers and icing. With the remaining frosting, cover the entire cake, swirling and smoothing as you go. Serve, or leave somewhere cool or in the fridge until ready to serve (see Make Ahead).