1. 1 Cup = 200ml

For the chocolate cake

Ingredients

1. Cooking chocolate – 100 gram (chopped)
2. Unsalted butter – ¼ cup
3. Sugar – ¾ cup
4. Milk – 1 ½ cup (warm)
5. Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp
6. Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
7. All purpose flour – 1 ½ cup
8. Cocoa powder – 2 tbsp
9. Baking powder – 1 tbsp
10. Coffee powder – ½ tsp
11. Salt – ½ tsp

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree. Grease an 8” inch cake tin with butter and line it with parchment and keep it ready.
2. In another bowl, take sugar, butter and cooking chocolate and microwave for a minute. Remove from the microwave and stir till well combined. Add milk, oil and vanilla essence to this and combine well.
3. In a deep bowl sift together all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, coffee powder and salt. Add this flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and combine well. Pour this batter to the prepared cake tin and bake for about 40 – 45 minutes or till done (check the cake by inserting a tooth pick at the center of the cake, if it comes out clean, the cake is done).
4. Remove from the oven and cool it for about 15 minutes at room temperature. Remove the cake carefully from the cake tin and cool it completely over a wire rack. Cut the cake to make 2 layers.

For the filling and frosting

Ingredients

1. Mascarpone cheese – 150 gram
2. Whipping cream – ½ cup + ¼ cup
3. Condensed milk – ¼ cup
4. Icing sugar – 2 tbsp
5. Vanilla essence – ½ tsp
6. Coffee powder – 1 tsp (mix it in ½ cup of hot water)
7. Cooking chocolate (preferably Lindt) – 150 gram (chopped)
8. Unsalted butter – ¼ tsp
9. Chocolates of your choice – for topping (I used Lindt Lindor, Lindt Easter eggs, Twix, Mars, Bounty, etc)

Method

1. In a deep bowl, take mascarpone cheese and whisk well.
2. In another bowl, whip well ½ cup whipping cream till soft peaks are formed. Add condensed milk, icing sugar and vanilla essence to this and whip till stiff peaks are formed. Add the mascarpone cheese to the whipped cream and fold evenly. The cream filling is ready.
3. To assemble the cake, take one layer of cake, sprinkle little coffee decoction and then top it with 1/3rd of the mascarpone cream filling and spread evenly. Place the other layer of chocolate cake and sprinkle the coffee decoction. Cover the top and sides of the cake with remaining mascarpone cream. Cool it in the refrigerator for an hour.
4. In a bowl, combine together cooking chocolate, ¼ cup whipping cream and unsalted butter and microwave for about 40 seconds – 1 minute. Mix well till the chocolate melts completely. Leave it to be warm for few minutes.
5. Pour this chocolate ganache over the cooled cake and let it cool for another half an hour. Top it with a lot of chocolates of your choice and serve.