Matilda-inspired Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake

1. Read through the full recipe before starting, including the tips at the end. This cake is too good to lose to the rubbish bin.
2. Preheat the oven to 170° C/340° F fan bake and line the base of the two cake tins with parchment paper.
3. Add 320g white sugar, 175g dark brown sugar, 1½ tsp salt and 2 tsp of instant coffee powder into a large bowl (not Ooni Halo Core bowl). 
4. Sieve the 330g plain flour, 90g cocoa powder, 1½ tsp baking powder and 2 tsp baking soda into the same bowl. Stir to combine and set aside.
5. Add 165g vegetable oil, 3 large eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract and 300g greek yogurt into the Ooni Halo Core bowl, then fit this into the mixer with the Angled Silicone-Edge Beater and Clear Splash Guard attachments.
6. Start the mixer and beat at 80% (8 fully lit segments on the Halo Core dial) for 1 minute. 
7. Reduce the speed to 30% (3 fully lit segments on the dial) and slowly add the dry ingredients from step 1 over the next 3 minutes; 1 heaped tablespoon at a time, at 5 second increments. The previous tablespoon doesn’t have to be fully incorporated before you add the next one. 
8. Increase the mixing speed to 40% (4 fully lit segments on the dial) and pour a third of the hot coffee into the bowl in a steady stream. Mix for 20 seconds. Pause to scrape the bowl down with a silicone spatula, then repeat another two times, mixing until all the coffee is incorporated. 
9. Divide the batter between the two cake tins and place in the preheated oven.
10. Bake for 45-50 minutes, rotating the tins halfway through the baking time. The cake is done when an inserted skewer comes out clean. 
11. Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the tin and invert the baking tin on a cooling rack to release the cake. Leave to cool completely. 

Frosting

1. Add 397g of condensed milk, 150g of double cream and pinch of salt into a medium saucepan. Sieve 20g of cocoa powder into this mixture.
2. Place the medium saucepan over medium-low heat and, using a whisk, mix until the cocoa powder is fully incorporated. 
3. Add 200g dark chocolate, 200g milk chocolate and 50g butter into the saucepan. Using a silicone spatula, stir continuously until the chocolate is completely melted, no more than 5 minutes, then remove from the heat. Do not bring this chocolate mixture to the boil or it will split. 
4. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a medium sized bowl and press a sheet of cling film to the surface of the mixture so that it doesn’t form a skin as it cools. Set aside and let it cool completely at room temperature. 

Assemble

1. If using a turntable, place your cake board/plate/stand onto it. 
2. Using a serrated knife, halve the two cakes so that you have four layers in total. 
3. Stir the frosting mixture with a spoon to loosen it until its spreadable. 
4. Place one cake layer onto the serving board, then spoon two large tablespoons of frosting onto the cake. Spread it out using a spatula until evenly distributed. You can add more frosting if required. Repeat with the remaining three layers of cake. 
5. Using the rest of the frosting, cover the top and sides of the cake. Decorate as desired and leave at room temperature until ready to serve. 

Tips:

• Ooni Halo Core speed dial, explained: Each display light segment on the mixer indicates a speed increase of 5% when half lit and 10% when fully lit.
• Make both the cake and frosting the day before. Then frost the cake on the day you plan to serve it. 
• If using springform tins, line well with foil. If you only have a springform tin available, wrap the base of it in kitchen foil and place the tin on a baking tray. Be ready to move quickly once you pour the batter in and get it into the oven as quickly as possible.
• If frosting is too firm to spread, soften in the microwave. Stir between each 10 second burst until it has the consistency of Skippy peanut butter or cold cream cheese.