Well, technically it's four ingredients. But I happened to have ganache handy, so I didn't need to take any extra steps.
Even if you don't have ganache handy, though, this cake is incredibly easy to make. All you need is ganache, eggs, and sugar. If you have these things, you could be eating this cake within the hour. For reals.
This cake was inspired by the three ingredient peanut butter cake I made for Craftsy. The cake got a great reaction, because it's just so darned simple: peanut butter, eggs, sugar. That's it.
Of course, it also came with questions, ranging from the deeply boring ("Can I substitute non-sugar substitute?" and the like) to sensible ("can I use natural peanut butter?") to very interesting ("can I add chocolate?" "Can I substitute almond butter?").
Well, the questions about chocolate in particular intrigued me and my sweetheart, especially because we had a big old pan full of ganache in the kitchen (related: I love my life).
So, along with said sweetheart, a version of the peanut butter cake was made, but this time with ganache instead of peanut butter.
Well, let me tell you.
It was a bit flatter than its peanut butter counterpart, but it...was...freaking...delicious.
It is like eating the best parts of a chocolate layer cake, but condensed into one little dense form. It's simultaneously rich and oddly light.
Although it technically added more ingredients, topping the cake with whipped cream or ice cream is a really, really good thing.
I don't want to waste any more of your time, because every minute you read this is a minute less that you'll be baking this cake. So let's get baking! Here's how you do it.
Three Ingredient Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces ganache, weighed on a scale
- 4 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
Procedure
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and 8-inch cake pan and line with parchment paper. Lightly grease the top of the parchment paper, too. This will ensure easy removal later.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs until more than doubled in volume — about 8 minutes at high speed.
- Stop the mixer. Add the sugar, and beat one more minute, until fully combined, on medium-high speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula if necessary.
- Stop the mixer. Add the ganache, and mix on the lowest setting only until no streaks remain and the color is consistent. You can also add the ganache by hand, gently folding it in to the egg mixture.
- Pour the batter in your prepared pan.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a knife or cake tester inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Immediately run a sharp knife along the perimeter of the cake pan to loosen the edges. Let the cake cool completely before inverting on to a cake platter and serving. Store in the refrigerator, but serve at room temperature.
