📋Chocolate Sponge Cake With Walnuts

📋Chocolate Sponge Cake With Walnuts

This chocolate sponge cake recipe is creamy and nutty, made with dark chocolate and grated walnuts. A fluffy chocolate sponge cake with a soft and foamy consistency created by the whipped egg whites but also a crunchy texture from the walnuts. This moist chocolate cake is a popular choice for a birthday cake or for a special occasion. The perfect base for a layer cake covered with dark chocolate frosting and topped with fruity raspberries to complete.

Course Desserts

Cuisine French

Keyword chocolate cake with frosting, chocolate sponge cake, sponge cake

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

Resting time 1

Total Time 2

Servings people

Calories 527kcal

Author Laura Tobin

Equipment

Ingredients

For the cake

4 ½ oz dark chocolate
1 teaspoon dry instant coffee
2 tablespoon fresh water
1 cup caster sugar
½ cup butter at room temperature
6 fresh eggs separated
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoon flour

Frosting:

7 oz cream
7 oz chocolate dark or milk: milk chocolate will make a softer frosting
½ cup raspberry

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare the ingredients

Melt the chocolate, sugar, coffee and water in a bain-marie or in the microwave for 1.5 minutes.
4 ½ oz dark chocolate, 1 teaspoon dry instant coffee, 2 tablespoon fresh water, 1 cup caster sugar
Mix and let it cool down
Separate the egg yolks from the whites.
6 fresh eggs
Mix the ground walnuts with 2 tablespoon of flour.
1 cup chopped walnuts, 2 tablespoon flour

Making the chocolate batter

Whip the butter with an electric mixer until it becomes creamy.
½ cup butter
Add the egg yolks to the butter and mix
Combine the melted chocolate and sugar to the butter and eggs,
Then add the ground walnuts mixed with the flour. Mix the batter well until all is combined

Adding the egg whites

Whip the egg whites till stiff and forming peaks.
Gently add it to the mix, one spoon at a time until it is all combined.

Baking the sponges

Grease and flour 2 baking tins of 8 in - 20 cm in diameter. Here I use a heart-shaped one for St Valentine’s.
Pour the mix into the buttered tins
Cook in a hot oven at 355 F - 180C for 35 minutes.

Making the frosting

Gently warm the cream but make sure it does not boil. The best is to do it in a bain-marie over a pot of boiling water.
7 oz cream
Take off of the heat and add the dark chocolate.
7 oz chocolate
Mix until the chocolate melts.
Let it cool completely.
Place the mixing bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes. You will obtain better results if it is ice cold when you whip the cream.
Whip the chocolate cream.

Frosting and decorating the cake

Once the cakes are ready let them cool at room temperature before proceeding. Place one cake over the serving dish
Spread some cream on top of the first cake.
Position the second cake on top.
Cover completely with the remaining cream
Spread the frosting also on the side.
Decorate with walnuts and raspberries.
½ cup raspberry
Keep in the fridge until it is time to serve.

Video

Notes

Use good quality dark chocolate. The cake consistency will be softer if you want to use milk chocolate.
Same principle applies to the frosting. If you want to use milk chocolate, use less cream.
You can also use the microwave at medium for 1.5 minutes to melt the chocolate.
Make sure the egg whites are at room temperature. Cold egg whites won't make a firm foam.
On the contrary, whipping the cream is best if the whisk and the bowl are very cold. Place them in the freezer for 10 minutes before preparing the frosting.
Ensure the baking pans are well-buttered and coated with flour on the bottom and sides of the pan. This will ensure that the cake will not break when removed from the pan.
During baking, keep a close eye on the oven, and avoid opening the door too often. This can cause the temperature to fluctuate, which may lead to uneven baking or an undesired texture.
Use a toothpick or a cake tester to check the cake’s doneness before removing it from the oven.
Wait at least 10 minutes before removing the cake from the pans.
Other cream fillings are chocolate buttercream and custard cream. You can make the chocolate buttercream by blending unsweetened cocoa powder or melted chocolate with a traditional buttercream base. You can find the recipe for a Custard cream in the Italian fruit tart recipe.
Instead of raspberries, you can also use strawberries or blackberries

Nutrition