This is virtually my first cake of the year. Barring a banana bread, I took a sabbatical from baking cakes. And I feel rejuvenated. A little chocolate in the kitchen is almost a requirement come Valentine's Day. This chocolate fudge cake is different. It is probably the healthiest chocolate cake you will eat - almost! It is enriched with the goodness of rice bran oil, a favourite baking ingredient of mine. It has very little sugar for it's size. The lack of sweetness is compensated with sweet fruit and a dusting of icing sugar. I suppose a good dollop of sweet whipped cream would make it really indulgent as well. It really is a brownie masquerading as a cake. Brownie in the form of a cake? Why not!
Sending you all love this Valentine's Day! Enjoy the gazillion photos I took of the cake.
xx
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CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE
A light smooth as silk chocolate fudge cake baked with low sugar and the goodness of rice bran oil. Dress it up with seasonal fruit, powdered sugar and fresh cream for an elegant dessert.
Makes - To Serve 6 to 8
Ingredients
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
5 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1/3 cup rice bran oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
fresh figs and red grapes to garnish
icing sugar for dusting
Method
Preheat oven to 160C (325F).
Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a large bowl. Add sugar. Mix.
In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract and oil with an electric beater until the mixture is smooth.
Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and beat until smooth for about a minute.
Line a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper. Pour cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the pre-heated oven for 40 minutes until just firm.
Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely in the tin. Decorate with fresh seasonal fruit and dust with icing sugar before serving.
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Can i use some other oil instead of rice bran oil?
JJ, you could use light/mellow flavoured olive oil or any nut oil like macadamia or walnut.x
Im making the cake now and I tried with normal extra virgin olive oil. It turned out spongey/chewy/pancakey in texture. Is this due to the oil? Im making it for a second time. I also have coconut oil. Would this be a better substitute as it's lighter? Or even butter? Help!
Pretty Cake. Same with me. I have taken a break from baking since a while. Those pictures distracted me from reading the recipe. 😉
From its name, fudges chocolate, its really amazing delicious!. Everything on the cake is really perfect! You are really amazing. Thanks a lot.
Absolutely stunning cake with great presentation! Not to mention, chocolately fudgey cake sounds incredible.
That cake looks so decadent and has all my favourite fruits on top. Yum!
Fudgey deliciousness! And I love the styling here, Sneh 🙂
Oh wow! That cake looks so moist and fudgey! You've outdone yourself Sneh!
Love the dusted heart in the first photo - very valentines! Gorgeous photos and cake. Hope you had a good Valentines Day.
this is bloody gorgeous, going to have to convert it into metric for a london bake!
Sneh, I'm not much of a chocolate cake person, but brownie is definitely an exception.
your cake is spectacular!
Love all of them, especially the hand drawn hearts on flour..
If I could say, I'd say, love your creative eye! 😉
Spectacular cake! The photos are stunning.
This looks so amazing! What gorgeous photos, too!
added to my to-bake list.
I have to agree, the answer is most definitely always chocolate cake and this one looks spectacular!
I can almost smell the cocoa......
I make a similar looking cake to this. The "looking" part of that last sentence is because mine is full of butter and chocolate. I love the lightness, good oils and low sugar components in your recipe. I think I am going to start making this instead!
I've never baked with rice bran oil--I'm intrigued! This is gorgeous. And it does look super fudgy!
Absolutely love the pictures!
I've never heard of rice bran oil. Is there other stuff this can be used for , or an alternative if I can find this in the stores?
Many thanks 🙂
A brownie masquerading as a cake? I love it! Your pictures make me smile :).
Its divine and your photography is extraordinary! Love your blog so happy I found you Hugs P.s. I hope you will share this at my hop tomorrow
Beautiful post, Sneh. I just love how you've styled this 🙂
I love your photography and styling so much!
I couldn't agree more, chocolate is always the answer!! It looks delicious!
I haven't made a cake in a while, but I think if I'm going to make one, it's going to have to be this. The pairing of chocolate and figs... Well, the thought of it makes certain body parts tingle. TMI?
Wow! This looks really good! I like the contrast of the fruits colour against the dark chocolate, especially the figs. Beautiful presentation.
FoodNerd x
Why are you all doing this to me!! All the chocolate is finally getting to me! I think I can't postpone baking anymore... lol!
LOVE LOVE LOVE all the photos...
A very tempting cake! I love th eway you have presented it. Beautiful.
Cheers,
Rosa