How to upgrade your chocolate cake

Seven ways to give a chocolate cake a little something extra.

Now THIS is what you call a chocolate cake. Source: The most commonly reported food craving is chocolate. (Donna Hay)

--- The Cook Up with Adam Liaw  airs weeknights at 7pm on SBS Food (Ch.33). All episodes are available to stream anytime on SBS On Demand. ---  

In our home, cake means chocolate cake. When my family organises a celebration, the one cake we know that everyone will love is a chocolate one.

While you can never go wrong with a classic, here are some of the ways you can make chocolate cake a little bit more interesting.

Instant coffee

Adding a teaspoon of instant granulated coffee amplifies the chocolate of a cake as much as cocoa accentuates the flavour of a cup of coffee. The granules can be added to the batter along with the other dry ingredients, or mixed with hot water and added with other liquid ingredients, as in these mini chocolate almond tortes.

Mini chocolate almond tortes Source: Mary's Kitchen Crush

Dulce de leche

You can get caramel in a can, but it's much more satisfying to make your own dulce de leche at home, and even better when you add it to chocolate cake.

Just take a can of condensed milk, remove the paper label, place it in a pot and submerge it in water. Put the pot on the boil for three hours and allow it to cool a bit before taking the can out. Voila! The once cream-coloured condensed milk has now turned a golden-brown colour.

Sandwich the dulce de leche in between layers of chocolate cake. Finish off the cake by icing it with chocolate ganache.

Fruit purees

Fruit purees bring moisure and natural sweetness to cakes. Give it a try in this luxurious vegan chocolate cake, with chocolate buttercream (made with vegan butter), shared by Stephanie Stanhope on The Cook Up With Adam Liaw.

Vegan chocolate cake Source: Kitti Gould

You can experiment with tomato, too. The idea to put tomatoes in chocolate cake has been in part inspired by Thunder Cake, a children's book by Patricia Polacco. The tale is about a grandmother who bakes chocolate cake with tomatoes and helps her granddaughter combat her fear of thunderstorms.

Yes, tomatoes in chocolate cake is a tried-and-tested ingredient. Source: Supplied

While the tale is a work of fiction, it's a fact that tomatoes work in chocolate cake.

The mild acidity of tomatoes works in chocolate cake much like apple cider vinegar does; it makes the dessert delicate and moist. Make sure to use tomatoes without the skin and seeds, though.

 

Yuzu

Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit that is much milder that lemon and has a more orange-lemony taste.

While orange and chocolate are pretty much the go-to combo when it comes to citrus and cocoa, yuzu lends itself well with milk chocolate, or even better, with the white kind. Yuzu gives chocolate a well-rounded flavour, and its tartness and acidity are much less confronting than the usual lemon.

Yuzu gives chocolate a well-rounded flavour, and its tartness and acidity are much less confronting than the usual lemon.

Like other acids, a dash of yuzu activates the baking soda or baking powder in a chocolate cake.

Chillies

It's no surprise that chillies and chocolate go well together – take, for example, the classic Mexican mole (sauce). 

But when it comes to chocolate cake and chilli, it's about considering the flavours you want to achieve and choosing the right chilli variety. 

Use an ancho chilli powder if you don't want the heat to be too intense. Use a chipotle chilli powder for a sweeter and smokier flavour. Either powder complements the taste of chocolate and gives the cake a more complex flavour.

Beer

Here's an excuse to grab a bottle of brew in the middle of the day – to make chocolate cake!

Beer is a great addition to chocolate cake because its leavening capabilities help to make cakes more moist and fluffier.

If you're going to use beer in cake, make sure to use stout beer. What's great about this dark variety is its complex flavour profile. Stout beer gives a richness to chocolate cake and has notes of coffee, chocolate and caramel. Try it in these double-choc stout, macadamia and candied bacon brownies.

Yes, we have a recipe for candied bacon brownies. Source: Smith Street Books

Avocado

The versatility of an avocado makes it a wonderful addition to both sweet and savoury dishes.

Avocados can substitute butter and sometimes even eggs in chocolate cake, without compromising quality. This replacement makes the cake more vegan-friendly.

Instead of being overpowering, avocado complements the taste of chocolate, making the cake even richer and fudgy. And don't limit your avo-adventure to the cake: it can also be used to add richness to icings and frostings, such as the dark chocolate mousse layers of this gluten-free dark chocolate espresso mud cake.

Dark chocolate espresso mud cake Source: Melissa Darr

Love the story? Follow the author here: Instagram @nikki.ag.