Chocolate cider cake

Birthday time. This calls for a special cake. I had been eyeing up a recipe for chocolate cider cake for a while and finally had a good excuse to try it. You can use either apple or pear cider in this recipe. I chose pear as I like the more subtle flavour that pear cider offers. I used Rekorderlig pear cider but would probably use Zeffer pear cider in future as I prefer a crisp, dry cider taste.

Despite appearing in a trashy New Zealand women's magazine, the recipe appears English in origin, meaning that I had to substitute some ingredients. (For example, we don't have double thick or thickened cream here but plain old kiwi cream works just fine.) I am really impressed with this recipe; I don't think I have ever managed to bake a round cake that rose perfectly even all round and didn't need levelling! It was also declared a new favourite by my family judging panel tonight - and that's high praise considering how many cakes I have baked for them over the years.

Chocolate cider cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups self-raising flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 125 g butter, softened
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 200 ml apple or pear cider

Ganache

• 300 ml cream
• 150 g dark chocolate pieces

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease and line a 20 cm round baking tin (or 2 x 20 cm sandwich tins) and set aside.
2. Sift flour, cocoa and baking soda into a mixing bowl. Add butter, sugar and eggs.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat mixture on a low speed until well combined, smooth and creamy. (The mixture will be very thick). Fold cider through gradually until combined.
4. Pour mixture evenly into the pan(s). Bake for 45 minutes (or 30-35 minutes if using sandwich tins) and test with a skewer; it should come out clean. Loosen edges with a knife and transfer onto a wire rack to tool.

To make ganache

1. Place 150 grams of cream (weigh the cream - don't measure it) into a medium saucepan and bring almost to the boil over a medium heat. Remove from heat and add chocolate pieces. Gently stir until combined then set aside to cool.
2. Beat remaining cream until just whipped. Gently fold in 1/3 cup of cooled ganache mixture.

To assemble

1. Slice cooled cake in half horizontally. Place bottom half on a cake plate and spread with a layer of ganache. Cover with the whipped cream and ganache mixture. Gently place top layer over the cream and drizzle or ice with remaining ganache. Decorate with chocolate curls, if desired.

Chocolate cider cake