Happy Halloween everyone! It’s candy season! And when you say candy…. I think… chocolate bars! And that.. is what Halloween is awesome for.

“Not a big fan of chocolate.” Have you ever heard anyone say that? I’ll probably roll my eyes and shudder when I hear something so preposterous. I still consider the statement to be simply blasphemous, mind you.

I guess everyone has their weakness. For some it’s coffee, for others ice-cream, for me it’s chocolate (amongst many other things). I find it incredibly hard to resist the chocolate cake at the café by my workplace, the chocolate bars that always seem to be a hand’s reach away, or the chocolate wafers that refill themselves in my pantry. My love for chocolate is even influencing my choice of usernames for social apps.

Not only does chocolate taste good, it also makes one feeeel good. An international love symbol and definitely king of natural aphrodisiacs! Anyway, I decided to make a chocolate cake for my mama since it was her birthday. Plus! It’s my 2 years blogoversary! Yes! Sweet Samsations has turned 2! A little more than 2 actually, since my post came in a little very late 😛 Sorry! Work, yoga and social life has taken over… 😦

So here you go. A taste of aphrodisiac… richly infused with chocolate-y goodness, leaning on the sinful side. Don’t say I didn’t warn you now! Here’s a toast to all my choco-fans from choco-Sam!

Chocolate Cake Layer Cake

adapted from Chocolate by Carla Bardi. Designed by me!

Frosting

• 400g milk chocolate
• 1 1/2 cup (400ml) whipping cream

Cake

• 1 cups (150g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon coffee powder
• 1/2 cup (130g) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup (150g) superfine (caster) sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 100g melted dark chocolate
• 1 banana (sliced)

Chocolate Decoration

• One bar of baking chocolate

Directions

1. To prepare the cake, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Butter two 7-inch (18cm) springform pans. Line with parchment paper.
2. Combine all the cake ingredients except the chocolate in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium spread until creamy. Fold in the melted chocolate. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until firm to the touch. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, peel off the paper, and let cool completely, about 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, we will prepare some chocolate decoration. Use a fruit peeler to shave off the bar of chocolate. This will create pretty rolls of chocolate which you can then place on top of the cake while the frosting is still semi-wet. (later)
   
5. Melt some chocolate, and pipe it with a small plastic bag onto some baking paper. Use a spoon to flatten it, and shape it to this. Let cool in the fridge until hardened.
   
6. To prepare the frosting, put the chocolate into a bowl. Pour the cream into a pan and heat until simmering. Pour over the chocolate and stir until smooth. Cool, then chill, until thick but spreadable.
7. Slice off any cake tops so that the cake is flat. Frost the top of one layer, and lay it out with sliced bananas. Sandwich the layers together and pour  the rest of the frosting from the top. Spread evenly.
8. Now, you can proceed to decorate your cake!

Have fun!!

Hope you guys enjoy the recipe! If you live in Singapore, you may find that this cake tastes quite similarly to the “Tower Cake” from Au Chocolat! It is a very rich (and sinful) chocolate cake for those who just cannot get enough of chocolate 🙂