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This is a dark chocolate mud cake sponge: a rich, dense, deeply chocolate cake made by melting butter, oil, compound chocolate, brown sugar and milk together before the flours go in. A little instant coffee and rum sharpen the chocolate flavour without tasting of either. Baked low and slow, it comes out fudgy and moist with a tight, even crumb that stays soft for days.

Because the crumb is firm and close it carves and layers beautifully, which makes it a good base for stacked, shaped and covered cakes. Fill it with ganache, chill it and it will hold a sharp edge under fondant. The same batter can also be baked at a lower temperature for a soft, pudding-style dessert.

Ingredients

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Weight Per Unit: 1383
Number of Units: 1
Unit Size: 20 cm round tin, about 7 cm high
WEIGHT
(grams)
ALTERNATIVE METRIC INGREDIENT IMAGE CONDITION
A 150 5.3 ounces Butter Butter is a solid dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk, to separate the butterfat from the buttermilk. It is generally used as a spread on plain or toasted bread products and a condiment on cooked vegetables, as well as in cooking, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying. Butter consists of butterfat, milk proteins and water.
unsalted
diced
B 90 3.2 ounces Cooking Oil Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. It is also used in food preparation and flavouring not involving heat, such as salad dressings and bread dips, and in this sense might be more accurately termed edible oil. Cooking oil is typically a liquid at room temperature, although some oils that contain saturated fat, such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil are solid. There is a wide variety of cooking oils from plant sources such as olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil (rapeseed oil), corn oil, peanut oil and other vegetable oils, as well as animal-based oils like butter and lard. Oil can be flavoured with aromatic foodstuffs such as herbs, chillies or garlic.
neutral flavoured
C 270 9.5 ounces Dark Chocolate (Compound) Compound chocolate is a product made from a combination of cocoa, vegetable fat, and sweeteners. It is used as a lower-cost alternative to true chocolate, as it uses less-expensive hard vegetable fats such as coconut oil or palm kernel oil in place of the more expensive cocoa butter. It may also be known as 'compound coating' or 'chocolatey coating' when used as a coating for candy. chopped or buttons
D 240 8.4 ounces Brown Sugar Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content (natural brown sugar), or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white sugar (commercial brown sugar). lightly packed
E 210 7.4 ounces Milk Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Milk is processed into a variety of dairy products such as cream, butter, yogurt, kefir, ice cream, and cheese. Modern industrial processes use milk to produce casein, whey protein, lactose, condensed milk, powdered milk, and many other food-additives and industrial products.
full cream
F 15 0.5 ounce Rum
dark
G 30 1.1 ounce Cake Flour Cake flour is a finely milled white flour made from soft wheat. It has very low protein content, between 8% and 10%, making it suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher protein content of other flours would make the cakes tough. Highly sifted cake flours may require different volume amounts in recipes than all-purpose flour. Using the scoop and level method, well-sifted flour usually produces 125 g per cup. However, most American recipes are written with 140 g of flour per cup, so weighing and experimentation can be helpful in baking unfamiliar recipes. Small weight differences can greatly affect the texture. American Cake flour is bleached; in countries where bleached flour is prohibited, plain flour can be treated in a domestic microwave to improve the texture of the end product. sifted
H 140 4.9 ounces Self-Raising Flour Self-rising or self-raising flour is white flour that is sold premixed with chemical leavening agents. Self-rising flour is typically composed of the following ratio: 1 cup (100 g) flour, 1 1⁄2 teaspoons (3 g) baking powder, a pinch to 1⁄2 teaspoon (1 g or less) salt. sifted
I 3.5 0.1 ounce Sodium Bicarbonate Sodium bicarbonate (a.k.a baking soda, bread soda, cooking soda, and bicarbonate of soda), referred to as "baking soda", is primarily used in cooking (baking), as a leavening agent. It reacts with acidic components in batters, releasing carbon dioxide, which causes expansion of the batter and forms the characteristic texture and grain in pancakes, cakes, quick breads, soda bread, and other baked and fried foods. Acidic compounds that induce this reaction include phosphates, cream of tartar, lemon juice, yogurt, buttermilk, cocoa, vinegar, etc. Natural acids in sourdough can be leavened with the addition of small amounts as well. Sodium bicarbonate can be substituted for baking powder provided sufficient acid reagent is also added to the recipe. Many forms of baking powder contain sodium bicarbonate combined with calcium acid phosphate, sodium aluminium sulphate or cream of tartar. Sodium bicarbonate was sometimes used in cooking vegetables, to make them softer, although this has gone out of fashion, as most people now prefer firmer vegetables. However, it is still used in Asian and Latin American cuisine to tenderise meats. Baking soda may react with acids in food, including vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid). It is also used in breadings such as for fried foods to enhance crispness. Heat causes sodium bicarbonate to act as a raising agent by releasing carbon dioxide when used in baking. The carbon dioxide production starts at temperatures above 80 °C. Since the reaction does not occur at room temperature, mixtures (cake batter, etc.) can be allowed to stand without rising until they are heated in the oven. sifted
J 27 1 ounce Cocoa Powder Cocoa Powder (cocoa solids) is a mixture of many substances remaining after cocoa butter is extracted from cacao beans. When sold as an end product, it may also be called cocoa, and cacao. In contrast, the fatty component of chocolate is cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is 50% to 57% of the weight of cocoa beans and gives chocolate its characteristic melting properties. Cocoa solids are one of the richest sources of flavanol antioxidants. They are a key ingredient of chocolate, chocolate syrup, and chocolate confections.
unsweetened, Dutch process
sifted
K 3.5 0.1 ounce Baking Powder Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid, and is used for increasing the volume and lightening the texture of baked goods. Baking powder works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid-base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture. It is used instead of yeast for end-products where fermentation flavors would be undesirable or where the batter lacks the elastic structure to hold gas bubbles for more than a few minutes, or for convenience. Because carbon dioxide is released at a faster rate through the acid-base reaction than through fermentation, breads made by chemical leavening are called quick breads. sifted
L 4 0.1 ounce Instant Coffee Instant coffee, also called soluble coffee, coffee crystals and coffee powder, is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans. Instant coffee is commercially prepared by either freeze-drying or spray drying, after which it can be rehydrated. Instant coffee in a concentrated liquid form is also manufactured.
granules or powder
M 200 7 ounces Whole Egg Eggs are one of the most common ingredients in a typical cake. Egg yolks and whole eggs store significant amounts of protein and choline, and are widely used in baking. Usually an eggs role in a cake is to add moisture and richness, act as a raising agent as well as a glue to bind the ingredients together. room temperature, lightly beaten
1382

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Method

STEP ACTION DETAIL CONDITION
1 Pre-heat Pre-heat the oven to 165–170°C (330–340°F). Grease a deep 20 cm round tin, line the base and sides with baking paper, and wrap the outside of the tin with a collar of paper or a cake strip if you have one. Paper standing at least 2 cm above the rim
2 Melt Put A, B, C, D, E and L (butter, cooking oil, dark compound chocolate, brown sugar, milk and instant coffee) into a large saucepan or heatproof bowl and warm gently, stirring, over low heat or in short bursts in the microwave. Chocolate and sugar fully melted and smooth; do not let it boil
3 Cool Take the mixture off the heat and leave it to cool, stirring now and then. Just warm to the touch, around body temperature, so the eggs will not scramble
4 Sift Sift G, H, I, J and K (cake flour, self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder and baking powder) together into a bowl. No lumps of cocoa left
5 Combine Whisk M and F (whole egg and rum) into the cooled chocolate mixture a little at a time. Smooth and glossy, no streaks of egg
6 Mix Add the sifted dry ingredients in two or three lots and whisk gently until the batter is smooth. Thin, pourable batter with no dry pockets; do not over-beat
7 Fill Pour the batter into the prepared tin and tap it lightly on the bench to settle it. Tin no more than two thirds full
8 Bake Bake at 165–170°C (330–340°F) for about 50 minutes. In a deep home tin it may need 60–75 minutes; cover the top loosely with foil if it colours too quickly. A skewer in the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter
9 Cool Leave the cake in the tin until completely cold, then turn out, wrap well and rest it before cutting. Fully cold and firm; it slices and carves best after a night in the fridge

Important Notes

At the scale given here the recipe makes about 1.4 kg of batter, enough for one deep 20 cm round tin. Double it for two tins or for a 25 cm cake. The chef's baking note is 165–170°C (330–340°F) for 50 minutes. For a soft pudding-style version, bake the same batter at 110–115°C (230–240°F) for 25–30 minutes in small moulds or ramekins. Mud cake improves with resting. Once cold, wrap it in plastic and keep it at room temperature for up to 4 days, or in the fridge for a week; chilled cake is much easier to level, layer and carve. It also freezes well, wrapped, for up to 3 months.

Tools & Arrangements

Deep 20 cm round cake tin, baking paper, large saucepan or heatproof bowl, whisk, sieve, digital scales, spatula, skewer, cooling rack

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