Drago’s Delicious Chocolate Cake Recipe

Being in lockdown when you could be drinking a glass of something delicious and enjoying a plate of food at Balans can be a little depressing. But you know what makes it less depressing? Chocolate cake. Lots of chocolate cake.

Our fantastic head chef at Balans No.34, Dragos, has been kind enough to share with us his coveted recipe for the most delicious chocolate cake you could possibly imagine. Filled with vanilla cream, drenched in coffee syrup and, of course, covered in a rich chocolate glaze, it is sure to impress and if you’re looking to indulge this festive season!

For the Sponge:
8 Eggs
45g Cocoa Powder
90g Plain Flour
1tsp Vanilla Extract
120g Castor Sugar
Pinch of Salt

For the Vanilla Cream:
500ml Milk
6 Eggs
150g Butter
160g Sugar
50g Corn Starch
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Coffee Syrup:
250g Coffee
150ml Milk
35g Sugar

For the Chocolate Glaze:
120g Dark chocolate 50% Cocoa
80ml Double Cream
50g Butter
35g Sugar

Although this chocolate cake recipe might look like a labour of love, we promise it is TOTALLY worth it. So, to get started, the first thing you’ll need to do is make your Genoese sponge:

1. Whisk the egg whites with the salt and half of the sugar until they’re nicely combined.
2. In a separate bowl, add your egg yolks to the remaining sugar, and whisk until the mixture has doubled in size. Add in your vanilla extract.
3. Very gently, fold in your whisked egg whites, being careful not to knock the air out of them!
4. Sieve the cocoa and flour into another bowl and then add into the mixture, spoonful by spoonful and fold in.
5. Once everything is combined, place the mixture in your pre-lined tin and cook for 45 mins at 180 c.
6. While your sponge is in the oven, you can get on with making the vanilla cream. Start by whisking the eggs into the sugar until the mixture is almost white.
7. Then, place your milk in a pan and bring to the boil.
8. Meanwhile, mix the eggs in with the corn starch and, once combined, pour over the hot milk.
9. Quickly return the mixture to a clean pan and whisk over medium heat until is thick. Then add the butter and take it off the heat.
10. Cover with cling film and allow to cool down.
11. Make your coffee syrup simply by mixing all of the ingredients together and whisk vigorously until sugar dissolves and set to own side.
12. All that’s left to do is make the chocolate glaze to go on top! Start by heating the double cream and sugar in a pan. Once warm pour over the chocolate and butter so that they melt and then whisk together until everything is silky.
    Drago’s finished chocolate cake!
13. To assemble your incredible chocolate cake, carefully slice the cool sponge into 3 equal parts. Take the first slice, put it on the plate and wet it with the coffee syrup and then add the vanilla cream. Repeat the process until all of the layers have been added.
14. Pour over the chocolate glaze so that the whole cake is covered and then leave in the fridge to set. Decorate with any fruit of your choice!

We would love to see your recreations of Drago’s recipe at home, so please tag @balanslondon in your posts or email the snaps of your chocolatey slices to us at comms@balans.co.uk. Happy baking everyone!