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Ingredients
125ml vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
250g plain flour
200g caster sugar
200g light brown soft sugar
75g cocoa powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
284ml tub buttermilk (or see tip, right)
2 British Blacktail Medium Free Range Eggs
200ml strong brewed coffee, cooled
For the topping
200g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
50g butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
300ml double cream
About 20 chocolate mini eggs, a few roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 180ºC, gas mark 4.
Grease 3 x 18cm round tins with a little oil, and
line with baking parchment. Put the flour, both
sugars, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and
salt into a large bowl and whisk to combine.
Whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs and
coffee in a measuring jug until smooth. Pour the
wet mixture into the dry ingredients, whisking
until a smooth batter forms. It will be runny, so
the best way to divide it between the tins is to
transfer the batter to a large jug, use measuring
cups to equally divide it, or put each tin on the
scales and measure by weight.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until risen and a
skewer inserted into the centre comes out
clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes,
then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Place the dark chocolate, butter and golden
syrup into a large heatproof bowl set over a
pan of just simmering water. Stir until smooth
and melted, then remove from the heat and
pour in the cream. Mix well, then spoon a
couple of tablespoons of it into a bowl and
set aside for the ganache drips. Put the
remaining ganache into the fridge for at
least 15 minutes to harden.
Once the ganache sets slightly, use an electric
hand mixer to beat it for 2-3 minutes, until
lighter in colour with a mousse-like texture.
To assemble, place 1 sponge onto a plate
or cake stand. Top with ¼ of the whipped
ganache, smooth with a spatula and repeat
with the following sponges, topping each with
the same amount of ganache
Gently warm the reserved ganache for the
drips, either in the microwave or over a pan
of warm water, until it flows easily. Spoon
into a disposable piping bag, snip off the end,
then pipe drips from the top edge of the cake.
Put the remaining whipped ganache into a
piping bag fitted with a closed star nozzle and
pipe small swirls around the top of the cake.
Decorate each swirl with a mini chocolate
egg, then scatter with the chopped eggs and
chocolate vermicelli.
Cook’s tip
Coffee is the secret to deep richness and the moist texture of this cake, and I assure you the flavour is indistinguishable from the chocolate. If you’d rather avoid caffeine, use decaffeinated coffee instead. If you are adamant about leaving it out, replace it with water, but I implore you to try it.
If you can’t get your hands on buttermilk, make your own by mixing 275ml milk with 1½ tbsp lemon juice. Mix it together in a small jug, then leave to stand for 5 minutes. The lemon juice will acidify the milk and thicken it, ready to use in the cake batter.
Nutritional
Typical values per serving when made using specific products in recipe
Energy
2,992kJ/ 717kcals
Fat
44g
Saturated Fat
20g
Carbohydrates
71g
Sugars
52g
Fibre
3g
Protein
9g
Salt
1.3g
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