Kladdkaka – Swedish chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache

Kladdkaka is a dense, creamy and fudgy chocolate cake of Swedish origin that I decided to make even more intensely chocolaty with the addition of a dark chocolate ganache on top. It became almost decadent.

 

 

 

What’s even more special about this cake, apart from its beautiful texture and intense flavor, is the fact that it is a fuss-free cake that takes no more than fifteen minutes to bring together, using just one pan. No mixer in sight.

 

 

Kladdkaka – Swedish chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache

Slightly adapted from Fanny Zanotti

 

Yield: 1 cake / 10 servings 

Special equipment: 22-23 cm round springform pan

 

Ingredients

for the cake

190 g salted butter, plus extra for greasing the pan

320 g golden caster sugar (or regular caster sugar)

3 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla paste (or 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract)

135 g all-purpose flour

55 g Dutch-processed cocoa powder

½ tsp sea salt

for the ganache

160 g heavy cream, full-fat (35% fat)

130 g good-quality dark chocolate, finely chopped (I used a combination of 70% and 64% cocoa solids chocolate)

Good pinch of coarse sea salt

 

Preparation

for the cake

Preheat your oven to 160°C.

Butter the bottom and sides of your pan and line the bottom with a round piece of baking paper. You can see here how to cut a round piece of baking paper.

Add the butter in a large saucepan and melt over a medium heat.

Take pan off the heat, add the caster sugar and mix well with a wire whisk. Let the mixture cool down a bit, for 2-3 minutes, then add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix through.

Finally, add the flour, cocoa powder and salt, and mix until you have a smooth batter. Don’t overmix.

Pour the batter in the prepared baking pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.

Place pan on a wire rack to cool completely before pouring the chocolate ganache over it. Allow the ganache to set completely over the cake before you cut it otherwise it will run off your cake.

for the ganache

Add the chopped chocolate in a medium-sized bowl.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan until hot and steamy but do not let it boil.

Pour it over the chopped chocolate and let stand for 2-3 minutes. Add the sea salt, and using a rubber spatula, stir until you have a creamy and smooth mixture. 

Leave to cool and set slightly before using it for the cake.