Trial & Error.

Chocolate Mud Cake with Chocolate Ganache & marbled chocolate pieces

Chocolate Mud Cake. The quintessential Australian chocolate cake -- it's rich chocolate flavour always tend to either draw or drive away.. for me usually it's to drive away. Something about the cake always seems to be so heavy that it should be served as a main course rather than a dessert. But nonetheless I had to try it out as I was to enroll into my very first cake decorating course and I simply refuse to bake a fruit cake because no one really eats it at home.

Looking back, I remember trying out a mudcake when I was probably in Yr. 8. I cannot remember the details - but I'm pretty sure it was a big massive flop, uncooked middle bits and crusty tops... I think it was a complete disaster. So I have always been against making one, however I came to try a recipe from the Planet Cake book and found it absolutely FABULOUS... cakey & moist but not so heavy - but of course I had to tweak it a little bit more and add a few liquers & flavours! The only error I did for this cake however was the ganache - the chocolate had set as hard as a rock for me not measuring the chocolate (oh silly me!) but nothing a microwave before eating couldn't fix - and it was gone in no less than a day!