Preheat oven to 170C. Grease & line 2 20cm cake pans.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry & mix until well combined. Divide batter into equal portions & pour into the 2 cake pans.
Place in the oven & allow to bake for 30mins or until skewer inserted comes out clean. Dont worry if cake sinks a little in the center.
Remove the cakes from tge oven & allow to cool completely.
Frosting - beat the butter until light & fluffy (4-5mins). Add sifted cocoa powder & icing sugar then beat for another 2mins until well combined.
With the mixer running, slowly pour in the chocolate & mix well. Add the espresso, one tbsp at a time & mix until you have glossy frosting. When cakes are cool, slice each in half length-wise resulting in 4 cake layers. Or you can use only two layers. Next, Stack the cakes with frosting in the center adding crushed chocolate balls (opt) between every layer.
Finish the cake with the remaining frosting & top with chocolate balls.
Tips- cake can be made in advance. It should be cooled thoroughly before wrapping in grease proof paper & plastic wrap. Keep in the fridge.
Frosting - if buttercream is too dry/thick, add a bit of softened butter & splashes of milk.
Christmas Eve Dinner 2019
