Chocolate Quark Cake

Directions

1. Chocolate Quark Cake (adapted from The Sugar Hit)
2. Preheat your oven to 180°C.
3. In a pot over medium heat, melt together the butter, coffee and vanilla. Let cool.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder (sifted), baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. Add the butter and coffee mixture to the dry ingredients, then add the quark and eggs. Mix until combined.
6. Grease your baking pans (I advise lining them with baking sheets, so they won’t stick to the pan), and divide the batter evenly. I used three 16cm baking pans.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
8. Let the cakes cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then take them out and level them with a serrated knife.
9. Crumb coat with chocolate fudge frosting (recipe below) and put in the freezer for 20 minutes.
10. Frost again, now a bit thicker to get an even coating. Put in the freezer for another 20 minutes.
11. Take the cake out of the freezer, and place it on a high surface or balance it on your hand. Take a handful of sprinkles and press them into the cake. Do this all around the cake, but keep the top free of sprinkles. Stick in the freezer for 10 minutes.
12. Melt your chocolate and take out the cake from the freezer. Pour the chocolate on the middle of the cake, then use a spoon to guide to the sides of the cake, so that the chocolate drips down. If you don’t have enough drips, you can use your spoon to pour a little more chocolate straight down the sides of the cake.
13. Put in the fridge until the chocolate has set, and then serve.

1. Chocolate Fudge Frosting (from Cynthia Barcomi)
2. With a hand mixer, beat the butter until light and creamy. Add the sifted powdered sugar and keep mixing, until well mixed.
3. Pour in the cream and melted chocolate and mix very little after that so the chocolate doesn’t become too light.