Chocolate Easter Cake
Preparation time: 25 mins plus 2 hours refrigeration
Cooking time: 1 hour 10 mins
Makes a 23cm-round cake
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup orange juice
Grated rind of 2 oranges
3 tbsp Golden Syrup
Ganache:
125ml thickened cream
375g milk chocolate melts, roughly chopped Chocolate Easter eggs, to decorate
2 tbsp icing sugar
1. Preheat oven to moderately slow (160C). Brush a 23cm-round springform tin with melted butter or spray with cooking spray. Line the base with baking powder. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
2. Place the olive oil, sugar, eggs, juice, rind and Golden Syrup in a large bowl and whisk until well combined. Stir in sifted ingredients. Pour mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for 60-70 minutes until cake is cooked and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and stand tin on a wire rack to cool. When cold, remove from tin.
3. To make ganache, put cream in a medium-sized saucepan and bring just to boiling point but do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool and thicken in consistency without setting. (You may need to refrigerate to start the thickening process.)
4. To assemble, spoon the half-set chocolate ganache on top of the cake and refrigerate until set. Top with Easter eggs and dust with icing sugar just before serving.
NOTE: Once iced, the cake is best kept in a covered container in the fridge.