Charlie’s birthday chocolate fudge cake with dark chocolate ganache

We seem to have had all our birthdays in lockdown - first mine, then Charlie’s girlfriend Amy’s 21st, then Charlie’s 22nd (yes, I sang ‘twenny twooo oooh oooh’ to him all day) and Sam next week. As is the family tradition, the birthday person gets to choose whatever cake they want and I’ll always try my best to make it. This time, Charlie wanted me to recreate the fabulous rich chocolate fudge cake with dark chocolate ganache that he always orders in Pizza Express. Thing is right now, there’s not a lot of point of making a huge cake as we can’t really share it around, so I altered my recipe a bit and just made one slightly smaller cake.The Pizza Express one is filled (generously), so I made a ton of ganache and split the cake in half to fill it, but you could just leave it whole and smother it in ganache.

chocolate fudge cake with dark chocolate ganache

For the (smallish) chocolate fudge cake:

115 g butter, softened
115 g muscovado sugar
2 large free range eggs, beaten
100g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder (not hot chocolate!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g dark chocolate, melted
Splash of milk

For the dark chocolate ganache:

250g double cream (yes, I weigh it)
200g dark chocolate

First, preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4 and get all your ingredients together. Scrunch up some baking paper and use it to line a baking tin (I quite like the crinkly edges this gives, but you can be more precise and cut strips out for the sides and bottom if you like). Make sure the butter is at room temperature, beat the eggs, and sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa.

Cream the butter and sugar together until it’s really light and fluffy, then turn the mixer down and alternate spooning in the dry ingredients and pouring in the eggs – this is the best way to keep in the air and stop it curdling.

Stir in the vanilla and melted chocolate, and then stir in a splash of milk – I always do that with cake mix, I think it makes the finished cake a bit more moist (sorry m-word haters).

Pile the mixture into a smallish single cake tin, level the top and bake for around 25-30 min. Press the top - it should spring back – don’t leave it any longer if you can possibly help it – you want it just under if anything.

To make the ganache, gently heat the cream in a saucepan over a low heat, snap the chocolate into a bowl, then just pour the hot cream over the ganache and stir until smooth. Pop it in into the fridge to cool and firm up until you need it.

Once the cake is completely cool (don’t even attempt to ice it until then - you’ll just get a huge, melted, soggy mess), carefully cut the cake in half (if you want), then spread half the ganache on the bottom layer, squidge on the top, and pile the rest on there. I went for some incredibly dodgy chocolate work (clearly not my forté) by cutting out some chocolate stars, and a few candles. I’m not sure it was an exactly Pizza Express replica, but it was flipping nice anyway. I think he was chuffed with it.

Happy birthday to my wonderful lockdown buddy - currently keeping me sane (and mostly inebriated) in a pretty weird situation (imagine being locked down with your divorcing mum and dad, bless him).

I love this face. Happy birthday Charlie xxx