One-Bowl Chocolate Dessert Cake

A super-easy, super-delicious, super-fudgy, super-chocolaty cake and only one bowl to lick... I mean wash.  I don't know about you, but I think that sounds like a perfect start to the weekend.




One-Bowl Chocolate Dessert Cake
slightly adapted from here

125g (1 stick) unsalted butter, chopped, plus extra for greasing
375g (13.23 oz) dark chocolate, chopped
175g (1 cup) brown sugar
35g (1/4 cup) plain flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons buttermilk
120g (1 cup) ground almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
5 eggs, at room temperature
cocoa powder, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 170C (325F).  Butter a 22cm round springform cake pan and line the base and sides with baking paper. Set aside.

Put the butter and chocolate into a large heat-proof bowl and set the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Don't let the bowl touch the water.  Once melted and smooth, take the bowl off the heat.  Add the sugar, flour, salt, buttermilk and ground almonds.  Mix to combine.

Add the vanilla bean paste and then the eggs one at a time, mixing well to combine with each addition.  Try not the beat too much air into the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and cover loosely with foil.  Covering with foil will allow the cake to bake evenly and keep the top of the cake nice and soft.  The original recipe says to bake the cake for 40 minutes, but I've baked this cake a number of times and it always takes at least an hour in my oven.  I suggest you start checking with a skewer after 40 minutes.  The cake is done when the skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.

Take the cake out of the oven, take the foil off and put it on a wire rack.  Leave it to cool completely in the pan.

Release the cake from the cuff and dust liberally with cocoa powder.  Serve with whipped cream.