This is a magnificent sponge cake of which nobody ever tires! To cover the sides with as well, a double quantity of chocolate topping will be required.
140 g/250 ml cake flour
15 ml baking powder
pinch salt
30 ml cocoa powder
200 ml sugar
125 ml oil
125 ml water
5 ml vanilla essence
4 large eggs, separated
Topping
100 g dark, milk or white chocolate or combined
25 ml butter or cream
100’s and 1000’s (sprinkles) or chocolate shavings
- Preheat the oven to 190 °C.
- Line a medium loaf tin (about 280 mm x 110 mm x 65 mm) with non-stick baking paper to cover the longer sides only. Grease the short sides with non-stick cooking spray. Alternatively use a 220 mm to 260 mm springform cake tin and grease with non-stick cooking spray
- Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, and the water and oil and beat until evenly combined. Beat in the egg yolks only until blended.
- Beat the egg whites until firm and fold into the batter until evenly blended.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake about 35 minutes or until the cake is firm to the touch and thoroughly baked if tested with a skewer.
- Switch off the oven and allow the cake to cool in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for 5 minutes.
- Loosen the short sides and turn out the loaf onto a wire rack. Remove the paper and cool. Or, release the spring and remove the round cake from the pan carefully and cool on a wire rack.
- Place the chocolate and cream in a double-boiler and heat over simmering water until softened.
- Beat until the mixture is smooth and pour it over the cake, spreading over the top with a spatula and allowing streaks to run down the sides.
- Sprinkle with hundreds and thousands or chocolate shavings.
Note
- Vary the kind of chocolate – e.g. use dark chocolate with almonds.
- Omit the topping and dust the cake with icing sugar only.
12 servings.
Recipe by Carolié de Koster from Art Of Cooking page 602.