Chocolate Truffle Cake

A chocolate truffle cake with one slice cut out

The last 10 months have been the hardest of my life. Becoming a Mom was an initiation I felt ready for, yet looking back I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. Little did I know that my heart was going to expand so much I thought it would burst out of my chest at any moment. Or that I would feel like superwoman for a total of two weeks before the hormones wore off, the sleep deprivation kicked in and my anxiety went through the roof. Little did I know how much I would cry. Cry because I just love her so damn much. Cry because she would cry and I didn’t know how to fix it. Cry because I felt so lonely and isolated learning to become a Mom without my Mom.

Of course, it has gotten easier. She has grown and changed and shifted every day it seems. She sleeps better, I sleep better, the anxiety and overwhelm that would take over almost every day has started to settle as I’ve learned to loosen my grip on the reigns of control I held so tightly to. We giggle together, we dance together and we play together, predominantly by ourselves in this lonely pandemic world.

And we bake together… well I bake, but she joins me surrounded by all the random kitchen things she can bang and chew and shake. One day, and it’s probably not as far off as I think, we will don our matching aprons (thanks Ma!), stick our arms elbow deep in soft flour, our hands in squishy bread dough and our fingers in sweet and chocolatey batter. But until then it’s up to me to do the taste checks. 😉

That’s exactly what I did with this Chocolate Truffle Cake. After the cake was assembled and chilling I stared blankly at all the dishes on the counter not wanting to clean a thing. So instead I licked the remnants of chocolate buttercream off a spatula, ran my finger along the chocolate icing running down the inside of the bowl, leaned against the counter and watched my little girl watching me. She no doubt wanted some, as she wants some of whatever I put in my mouth these days. One day I hope we can share a cake like this with family and friends gathered around again, everyone helping with the taste checks and licking the chocolate buttercream off their fingers too.

Until then, happy baking!

Once slice of chocolate truffle cake lying on its side on a white plate

If you liked this recipe you are going to love these ones!

Vanilla and Chocolate Spelt Marble Cake
Strawberry Topped Chocolate Torte
Traditional Black Forest Cake

Chocolate Truffle Cake

Course Dessert
Cuisine German
Keyword Cakes, Chocolate
Servings 12 slices
Author Sophie

Ingredients

Chocolate Sponge Cake

  • 100 grams organic all purpose, unbleached spelt flour
  • 100 grams cornstarch
  • 3 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 4 large eggs at room temperature
  • 3 tbsp warm water
  • 200 grams granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Buttercream Filling

  • 420 grams icing sugar
  • 45 grams cocoa powder
  • 230 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 3 tbsp whipping cream
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp rum optional

Chocolate Icing

  • 225 grams icing sugar
  • 5 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 3 tbsp hot water

Decoration

  • 100 grams chocolate sprinkles

Instructions

Make the Chocolate Sponge Cake

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 26cm (10 inch) round spring form pan with butter. In a small bowl, sift together the spelt flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and baking powder. Set aside.

  2. Separate the eggs, adding the egg yolks to a large bowl or stand mixer bowl and the egg whites to another large bowl. Using the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks with the water until frothy then add approximately 2/3 of the sugar and the vanilla extract and whisk again until thick and creamy. Set aside.

  3. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or a large bowl with a hand mixer beat the egg whites until very stiff peaks. Add the remaining sugar and whisk again to combine. Gently empty the egg white mixture onto the egg yolk mixture and then add the sifted dry ingredients on top. Using a large spatula, gently fold together all the ingredients until evenly combined.

  4. Pour mixture into the greased spring form pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Cover the cake and chill in the fridge for one hour before filling (this will make the cake easier to slice into layers).

Make the Chocolate Buttercream Filling

  1. In a medium bowl sift together the icing sugar and cocoa powder. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a large bowl with a hand mixer beat the butter until creamy. Add the sifted ingredients along with the whipping cream, vanilla extract, sea salt and rum (if using) and beat on high for one full minute. Set aside 12 tsp balls of this mixture for decoration on a plate and chill in the fridge.

Assemble the Cake

  1. Remove the cake from the spring form pan and using a large, serrated bread knife cut the cake into three equal layers. Place the bottom layer on a cake plate or platter and spread half the chocolate buttercream on top. Repeat with the second layer. Top with the last layer of cake. Set aside.

  2. Make the icing by whisking the icing sugar, cocoa powder and hot water in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or a large bowl with a hand mixer. Spread the icing evenly over the top and sides of the cake.

  3. Sprinkle the chocolate sprinkles around the base of the cake then lift and gently press them onto the sides of the cake with a spatula. Sprinkle more around the top of the cake in a 1 inch border.

  4. Pour additional chocolate sprinkles in a small bowl. Roll the 12 tsp of buttercream you set aside to chill into small balls, roll each in the chocolate sprinkles and place on the cake. Chill the entire cake in the fridge to set the icing before serving.

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