Chocolate cake and coconut chantilly

Last week-end, we invited our neighbours at home for a pudding. It took only 2 sec to the little girls to notice the chocolate cake sitting on the kitchen bench. I bet they could smell the chocolate from their place, so the cake was rich in chocolate. But because it's never enough for dinodad, I decided to glaze it with a chocolate ganache. And because, dinomum is only a chocoholic beginner... What??! How?... Yes I need to tell you that story.

I never really enjoyed chocolate, never ever. As a child, I would have never taken a chocolate ice cream, vanilla or strawberry instead! I had Easter or Christmas chocolates in horror for the greatest pleasure of my dad and brothers. I much preferred candy and nougat. I would make chocolate cakes only to please the ones I loved. I couldn't understand my partner's addiction for this bitter and quite hardcore treat. I was quite proud of this reluctance to chocolate; it made me feel different than the mass of all those chocolate fans. And last year, when I got introduced to chocolate Fridays at work, I even prided myself that they would be happy to know that I'd leave them my portion as I would never feel like chocolate. No one could believe me.
But short after this, I got pregnant and everything changed (again)! I started to join in chocolate Fridays. I started buying chocolate tabs (for the big enjoyment of dinodad of course!), one per week, then two... or more... I developed an embarrassing chocolate addiction. When dinodad implied that I behaved the same way toward chocolate during my first pregnancy, I couldn't believe. So I kept confident that straight after delivery, this chocolate thing would vanish!
Bubba just turned 9 months-old and I am still fighting the chocolate appeal. My last hope is in weaning my little one off the breast... To be followed later this year... Hopefully this works before I got completely crazy about chocolate!

Well, as I was saying a bit earlier... (after the chocolate cake and the chocolate ganache...) 'And because, dinomum is only a chocoholic beginner', I decided to serve the chocolate cake with a light coconut chantilly to balance a little bit the bitterness and heaviness of the chocolate.
We all enjoyed this pudding very much, although the kids were more keen on the cake than the chantilly cream, but mummy was happy! :)

Ingredients

Chocolate cake

- 2 eggs
- 150 g caster sugar
- 200 ml plain yoghurt or greek style yohurt
- 150 g flour
- 100 ml oil
- 1 tsp baking powder
- a knob of butter (for the tin)

Ganache

- 150 g dark chocolate
- 150 ml cream
- 2 tsp icing sugar

Coconut chantilly

- 2x 165 ml can of cocnut cream, from the fridge

- 165 ml cream

- 1 tsp icing sugar

Preparation

Chocolate cake

Preheat the oven at 175C, fan bake.
1. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie.*
2. Whisk the eggs with the sugar using an electric beater until the mixture gets white and thick.
3. Add the yoghurt and mix.
4. Add the flour and the baking powder.
5. Then add the oil gradually until you get a smooth preparation with no lumps.
6. When the chocolate has melted, mix it straight into the preparation.
7. Pour in a buttered and floured tin and bake for 25 mins at 175C, then reduce at 160C for another 10 mins.*
8. Let cool down in the tin.

Chocolate ganache

Make the ganache when the cake is cold.

1. Bring the cream to the boil 

2. Pour a-third of the cream over the chocolate squares or buttons and stir.

3. Pour another third of cream and stir.

4. Pour the last third of cream and stir until the preparation is completely smooth

5. Add the sugar while stirring.

6. Place the cold cake on a cooling rack with a tray or baking paper underneath and pour the ganache over it while still warm. 
7. Retrieve the chocolate ganache that flowed under the cake and make a hot chocolate by adding some hot trimmed milk, or just invite the little dinosaurs to the bench ;)

Note. I wasn't very happy with the ganache. While it was very smooth when I poured it over the cake, when cooling down, bubbles and chocolate lumps appeared. I suspect this was due to the chocolate I used. It wasn't the same as usual and to get a ganache right, the proportion of cream must depend on the percentage of fat in the chocolate. I couldn't check the percentage of fat in the chocolate I used as I did not keep the package, but I suspect I should have put some more cream or a knob of butter. But no worries, here I gave you the proportions I usually use with the classic Pam Dark chocolate, and it works well. And worst case scenario, the ganache won't look very pro, but it will still be flavoursome!

Coconut chantilly

Make the chantilly just before serving the cake.

The coconut cream must be as much cold as possible, so it is recommended you put it in the fridge several hours before you plan to make the chantilly. The reason is that you will need only the most fatty part of the cream; the cold will split the coconut cream so that the coconut water will be at the bottom and you can use the solid cream from the top. I used two small cans of coconut cream made by 'The Family Choice' because I know that not all coconut cream brands are the same and this one for sure will give you a delicious chantilly. The most important is that the coconut is as fat as possible. Naturally coconut cream is less fat than normal cream, but it's this fat in the cream that allow you to turn it into a beautifully dense chantilly. So if you can't find this brand, choose the one with the most fat or adjust the quantity of cream, but this will be at the expense of the coconut flavour.

Then, it is very easy:

1. Pour the solid coconut cream and the normal cream in a mixing bowl with the icing sugar. Both creams need to be cold, straight from the fridge.

2. Whisk using an electric beater to incorporate air in the cream mix. Whisk for about 3 mins or until thick enough. Do not over-whisk or the chantilly will split.

3. Serve straight away!

Enjoy your afternoon treat!

Tips

* Bain-marie is a technique that consists of placing a container (here a bowl containing the chocolate) in a larger, shallow pan of warm water, which will then surround the bowl with gentle heat. This technique is used essentially in pastry like swiss meringues but can also be used for cooking delicate dish like sauces. It can also be used to keep cooked food warm.
* Baking time always depends on the oven and the tin. Originally this recipe uses an oblong/rectangle tin and needed 35 mins at 180C. The tin I used here being thinner, 35 mins at 175C was slightly to much, so after 25 mins I reduced the oven to 160C and covered with foil. In any case, if the top of the cake gets slightly burned while the inside is not cooked yet, cover with foil and reduce the heat to 160C.