There are two things in life a person can’t go without – coffee and chocolate. We’ve discovered the perfect combo that is sure to make you start salivating as soon as you read the recipe! It’s also the perfect amount of fancy that’s not difficult to master and wow your friends and family.

Mocha Mud Cake

Cake Ingredients:

1000g The Healthy Baker Mud Cake Premix

6 tbsp Mount K Coffee grounds (French Press)

560ml Boiling Water

200ml Vegetable Oil

Mocha Ganache Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Mount K Coffee grounds (French Press)

1 Cup Thickened Cream

2 Cups Milk Chocolate Chips

Mocha Butter Cream Icing:

500g Softened Unsalted Butter

750g Manildra Icing Sugar

60ml Brewed Coffee (reserved from Cake Ingredients)

1/3 of the Mocha Chocolate Ganache

Instructions:

Preheat Oven to 180C or 160c fan forced

Cake:

• Brew the coffee and let cool ( speed this up by putting it in the fridge)  reserve 60ml for the icing
• In a large mixing bowl combine The Healthy Baker Mud Cake Premix, 500ml Brewed Mount K Coffee and Vegetable oil.
• Mix on low speed for 1 min, scrape down bowl
• Mix on med speed for 4 min until smooth and glossy
• Line and grease preferred tin
• Pour in the cake batter until the tin is ¾ full ( the pictured cake uses 2 8inch round tins)
• Bake for 45-55 min until toothpick comes out clean * adjust the time for smaller/larger tins
• Remove from oven and place on cooling racks

Mocha Ganache

• Microwave cream for 2 min in a heatproof jug
• Add coffee grounds and let steep for 2 min
• Using a cheesecloth or fine sieve pass the cream through to remove coffee grounds
• Microwave infused cream for 1 min and pour over chocolate chips, let sit for 1 min
• Mix cream into chocolate, if chocolate doesn’t fully melt microwave at 30 sec intervals stirring every time until chocolate is fully melted. Let rest to room temp

Mocha Butter Cream Icing

• In a large mixing bowl place softened unsalted butter, icing sugar and brewed coffee. Using the whisk attachment, whisk on low until all ingredients are combined. Increase speed to high and whisk for a further 5 min or until light and fluffy, scrape down the side of the bowl occasionally.
• Once light and fluffy measure out 1/3 of the Mocha Ganache and add this into the mixing bowl, mix on high until combined.

Assembling the cake:

• Cut rounded tops off of fully cooled cake so there is a flat working surface
• Place one cake on plate/board cut side up, cover with icing followed by a layer of ganache
• Place 2^nd cake on top of the ganache cut side down, this will reduce the amount of crumbs in your icing.
• Cover the cake in a thin layer of icing and smooth out using a pallet knife or a cake scraper. This will set the crumbs to ensure a clean looking cake, also known as “crumb coat”.
• Place cake into the refrigerator for 30 min to set the icing.
• Once chilled, place a thick layer of icing on the cake and using a pallet knife or cake scraper smooth the top and edges of the cake.
• Clean remaining icing off of plate/board and refrigerate for 30 min.
• Reheat the remaining ganache, you don’t want this too hot just hot/liquid enough to easily flow out of a piping bag.
• Once the cake is cooled pipe around the edge of the top of the cake, to create the drip effect you will need to squeeze out more ganache in the spots you wish to drip down. With the remaining ganache pipe, this on to the top of the cake and smooth out with a pallet knife or the back of a tablespoon.
• With the remaining icing pipe desired design on top of the ganache, open star piping tip 1M was used to create the pictured effect.