Valrhona Chocolate Cake with Ganache

This moist, rich chocolate cake is easy to make, bake and decorate with your favourite toppings! We recommend icing this cake with a luscious Valrhona chocolate ganache and topping it with a combination of fresh berries, along with the new mixed crunchy chocolate pearls for added texture.

Serves 6-8

1 tbsp Valrhona cocoa
115g Lewis Road Creamery butter
125g Valrhona Guanaja chocolate fèves
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp Heilala vanilla extract
1 ¾ cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1 ¾ cup Girolomoni organic ‘00’ flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp Sal de Añana spring salt
 
For the ganache:
95ml cream
150g Valrhona Guanaja chocolate fèves
Fresh berries, to decorate
Valrhona crunchy pearls
 
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 22cm tin with olive oil and dust with cocoa.
Heat butter and chocolate in saucepan. When melted, stir in sugar and vanilla, then whisk in buttermilk and eggs.
Add dry ingredients, and gently mix until smooth. Pour batter into tin.
Bake for 40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Turn out on wire rack to cool.
 
For the ganache, set aside the fèves in a small bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan until just boiling. Pour over the fèves and allow to stand for 3-4 minutes. Whisk until glossy and smooth.
 
To decorate, pour the ganache on top of the cake and smooth out evenly with a spatula. Top with fresh berries and crunchy pearls.

Cake recipe courtesy of Annabel White