the versatility of dark chocolate

four different forms come together in one cake

I was recently asked to make a dark chocolate cake for a milestone birthday. While I tend to shy away from richer bakes in the warmer months, the request served as a reminder of how crowd-pleasing and versatile chocolate can be.

My go-to chocolate sponge recipe doesn’t even contain chocolate—it uses bloomed cocoa to produce deep chocolatey notes. The addition of boiling water releases the flavour trapped in the solid cocoa particles, leaving you a rich cake with a lighter texture and moist crumb. Companies like Magnolia Bakery and Hershey have used this technique for years, and it works. It isn’t the easiest cake to use for building layers because of how moist it is, but the extra effort is so worth it.

To keep the structure sturdy, I used a dark chocolate ganache made with equal parts chocolate, heavy cream, and a tiny amount of butter.

The layers were built while the ganache was still at room temperature. I also covered the entire cake in a thin layer of ganache and refrigerated it to lock in the moist crumbs. This step is crucial for a cleaner look if you plan to pipe anything on a cake. If you want to serve the cake pre-sliced, now is the time to portion it with a warm, sharp knife.

The best way to eat chocolate is in the form of chocolate cremeux. It is not overly sweet like a buttercream and more decadent than a mousse. It is made by pouring hot crème anglaise (custard) onto dark chocolate in equal parts. Once cooled and set, it is the perfect consistency for piping. I also used this to cover the sides of the round cake.

I couldn’t resist adding fruit to this cake, even if only as a garnish. The English summer yields many options, but I picked these beautifully dark, sweet cherries. Not only did they provide some much-needed tartness, but it also meant that I could test out my new cherry pitter! I have had my eye on this thing ever since my head Pastry Chef in New York used it to make the best Clafoutis, containing cherries by the kilo.

Also, as a garnish, dark chocolate shards were brushed with gold lustre dust.

The shards were made by tempering the dark chocolate and spreading it thinly on an acetate sheet. Properly tempered chocolate can peel off almost any surface and is shiny with a characteristic snap because the cocoa butter crystals are aligned in a perfect structure.

This perfect structure is formed by agitating melted chocolate and heating and cooling it to specific temperatures, which are different for each type of chocolate. After this, the chocolate can be used to make numerous decorations.

I favour chocolate plaques for writing messages on desserts, as I find chocolate easier to write with than piping letters with buttercream, especially on more textured desserts.

For good measure, I added some baby mint sprigs stolen from my boyfriend´s herb garden: