White Chocolate Mud Cake

I made this because I knew the Engineer would love it. He made a happy, contented face when he tasted it and did, in fact, declare his love for it. I said he seemed to like it so much that it looked like he would marry that cake if he could, and he replied that he married me so I could make him the cake. Turns out, I love it too. But it’s a little dangerous, because it’s just so good! We had to ration out this cake to make it last, and we cut it into 12 pieces if memory serves me correctly (instead of the usual 9 pieces I make when using a square pan like that). I simplified the directions a bit below, because Exclusively Food had instructions more adapted to Australia than North America; I also used a substitute for self-rising flour, so that’s what I wrote below as well. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

For the cake
300 g. white chocolate (ideally dairy-free)
200 g. (14 Tbsp.) margarine (this was butter in the original recipe)
1 cup lactose-free milk
165 g (¾ cup) caster sugar (I processed 165 g of cane sugar to get an equivalent)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
240 g. (2 cups) all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
1 pinch of salt

For the ganache
200 g. white chocolate
80 g. lactose-free sour cream

For the cake
Preheat oven to 325 °F.

Grease an 8-inch square pan and line the base and sides with parchment paper.

Place chocolate, margarine, milk and sugar in a large saucepan (or double boiler, as I did) over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat when chocolate and margarine have melted, and stir mixture until completely smooth. Allow mixture to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Add vanilla and eggs to chocolate mixture and stir until well combined. (If you fear some of your eggs have curdled, you can strain the mixture, but if you let the chocolate cool long enough, this shouldn’t be an issue.)

Stir flour, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Add one cup of chocolate mixture to the flour and stir until a smooth paste forms. Repeat with another cup of the chocolate mixture. Add remaining chocolate mixture and stir until mixture is smooth. (This gradual method of combining the wet and dry ingredients helps prevent lumps.)

Pour mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for about 1 hour or up to 1 hour 20 minutes. When the cake is ready, a fine-bladed knife inserted into the center of the cake should come out without any batter attached.

Loosely cover cake with greaseproof paper or a clean tea towel and allow it to cool to room temperature in pan. (The cake can be stored in the fridge overnight and brought to room temperature before being iced and served.)

For the ganache
Melt white chocolate in a double boiler (or in a small saucepan over VERY low heat), stirring frequently. When chocolate has completely melted, remove from heat and quickly stir in sour cream. Use immediately, or if your ganache is quite runny, set it aside at room temperature to thicken slightly before using. Simply pour on the cake and let stand until it has set.