Fudgy Chocolate Cake Inspired By Matilda

So good you will consume the entire confection

Last week, I watched Matilda (the 1996 film, not the 2022 musical) for the first time, and one scene stood out to me. It was the infamous chocolate cake scene.

If you have never watched Matilda, the scene starts when Matilda’s school principal, Miss Trunchbull calls the entire school body to an assembly. Then, a gluttonous young boy named Bruce Bogtrotter gets called out by Miss Trunchbull in front of the whole school, accusing him of eating a slice of her chocolate cake deeming him a “disgusting criminal”. Trunchbull then brings out a huge slice of chocolate cake, demanding Bruce to finish it. Bruce manages to finish it. Seeing that the slice of cake is gone, Trunchbull calls upon the school cook to bring out the rest of the cake and once again demands Bruce to finish it. As the scene progresses, Bruce is visibly nauseous and on the urge to throw up with closeups of his dazed eyes and chocolate-stained face. Thankfully, with much encouragement from his schoolmates, Bruce manages to finish the entirety of the cake.

Honestly, this scene might put some people off from eating chocolate cake, but it just made me crave chocolate cake.

This mouthwatering cake has layers of soft, rich and fudgy moist chocolate cake, covered in a slick and velvety chocolate fudge frosting. It’s so good that even you would be tempted to steal a slice from the evil Miss Trunchbull.

Tips For The Best Chocolate Cake

1.     Use Buttermilk: The acid in buttermilk reacts with baking soda, creating tiny air bubbles to help the cake batter rise, resulting in a lighter, softer cake. The acidity also tenderises the gluten in the flour by breaking down the protein which the cake softer.

You can make a buttermilk substitute by adding together 240ml of milk to 15ml of white distilled vinegar ( 1 cup of milk to 1tbsp of white distilled vinegar) and setting it aside for 10 minutes to let it curdle.

2.     Use A High-Quality Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder: It’s CHOCOLATE cake. Use the good stuff. Dutch Processed cocoa powder has a richer and more luxurious chocolate flavour. It also makes the cake darker similar to the cake in the movie.

If you are not able to find Dutch Processed cocoa powder, substitute for a high-quality natural cocoa powder. However, the end product will look and taste slightly different.

3.     Fat Is Your Friend: Using a neutral oil like vegetable oil, canola oil or corn oil makes the cake moist for longer as oil is a liquid at room temperature.

4.     Add Coffee: Adding instant espresso to your chocolate cake gives it more richness and complexity. Don’t worry, your cake won’t taste like coffee.

5.     Use A Cake Leveller: Using a cake leveller ensures that you have even layers.

Makes one large cake

Special Equipment:

2 8-inch Springform Cake Pans

Cake Leveller (optional)

Cake Board (optional)

Cake Turntable (optional)

FUDGE FROSTING

90g Dark chocolate, 70%

550g Granulated Sugar

130g Cornstarch

65g Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder

2g Instant Espresso Powder

2g Fine Salt

8g Vanilla Extract

675g Whole Milk, cold

75g Unsalted Butter, cold

CHOCOLATE CAKE

330g Buttermilk

3 cups (375g) All-Purpose Flour

450g Granulated Sugar

83g Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder

14g Baking Soda

7g Baking Powder

2g Fine Salt

165g Eggs, about 3 large eggs

320g Neutral Oil, like vegetable, canola or corn oil

11g Vanilla Extract

2g Instant Espresso Powder

320g Boiling Water

FUDGE FROSTING

1.     Add the chocolate into a bowl and microwave until melted.

2.     In a large saucepot, sift in the cocoa powder then add the sugar, cornstarch, salt and espresso powder. Whisk well to combine.

3.     While whisking, slowly stream in the cold milk then add the vanilla extract until everything is dissolved.

4.     Cook on medium heat while stirring with a rubber spatula until the frosting thickens and reaches the consistency of chocolate pudding – about 8 to 10 minutes. Bring it off the heat and stir in the melted chocolate. Then, add the cold butter, stirring until well combined at glossy.

If your frosting looks a little matte or is too thick, mix in a little more milk.

5.     Transfer the frosting to a bowl and cover the surface on the frosting with cling wrap. Let the frosting cool down completely then refrigerate.

Before using, remove the frosting from the fridge to bring it up to temperature. It should have a spreadable consistency.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

1.     Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease two 8-inch papers with butter and line with parchment paper.

2.     In a bowl, mix the cocoa powder, espresso powder and boiling water. Let it bloom for 10 minutes.

3.     In a large mixing bowl, sift in the flour and add in the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix well to combine.

4.     Add the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract and oil. Whisk till smooth.

5.     Add the bloomed cocoa powder mixture. Whisk till smooth. The batter should be quite runny.

6.     Pour the cake batter evenly into the two cake pans and bake for 55 – 60 minutes, until a cake tester poked into the centre of the cake is clean.

7.     Let the cakes cool in the springform pans for 20 minutes before removing them. Continue cooling the cakes on a wire rack upside down until completely cool.

ASSEMBLY

1.     Using a cake leveller or serrated knife, cut the domed tops of the cakes. Then, cut the cakes evenly in half. You should have four even layers of cake.

2.     Place a cake board on a turntable then place a layer of cake on top. Next, add a thin layer of frosting on top. I used an ice cream scoop to portion out the frosting evenly. Evenly spread the frosting across the top of the cake with an offset spatula. Repeat for the rest of the cake layers.

3.     Frost the sides of the cakes using an offset spatula.

4.     Make the spiral pattern on the sides. Slowly turn the turntable while running a small offset spatula along the side of the cake. Slowly move the offset spatula upwards after each rotation until you reach the top.

5.     Make the spiral pattern on the top. Slowly turn the turntable while running a small offset spatula from the outside of the cake inwards, stopping once you reach the middle.

6.     Serve and enjoy.