Chocolate Cake is hands down, one of my all time favourites. I like my chocolate cake to be moist, decadent, with soft crumbs, very chocolatey in flavour, not overly sweet and topped with a luscious chocolate frosting.
This chocolate cake recipe is an easy one. It uses Ragi/Finger Millet flour which is very nutritious and naturally gluten free. The texture is slightly different than regular cake but it is really moist and decedent. This cake is completely refined sugar free and egg free. The frosting is a whipped paneer chocolate ganache. This easy frosting uses a combination paneer and cream and is very chocolatey, very smooth and very delicious. My little one loves to have this frosting on its own!
If you love chocolate cake, you may also like these recipe: Vegan Chocolate and Orange Cake, Chocolate Beetroot Cake
Here are the main Ingredients:
Sprouted Ragi Flour is made by sprouting the ragi first, drying it and then grinding it into a powder. It is considered more nutritious and is finer in texture than regular Ragi flour in texture and gives better results in baking. Sprouted Ragi Flour is easily available online.
Flaxseeds are considered a good source of dietary fibre and omega 3 fatty acids. When dissolved in a liquid, it turns sticky and slimy. This helps in providing a good structure to the cake, as Ragi flour is naturally gluten free.
Jaggery is the only sweetener used in this recipe. If you want, you can substitute it with brown sugar or white sugar.
Fat: I have made this cake using Ghee. But you can use Butter or any neutral flavoured vegetable in this recipe.
Cocoa Powder provides that chocolate flavour here. So using a good quality cocoa powder is important. Dutch processed cocoa powder gives a really intense flavour. Use a cocoa powder with high percentage of cocoa butter, around 20-25%.
Corn flour helps with the structure of this cake. Though you can leave this out as well. The cake will have a slightly crumblier texture without the corn flour.
Milk helps bring the moisture in this recipe.
Frosting:
Paneer: A very soft paneer/chhena has a creamy texture. It provides volume and structure to the frosting.
Cream: This frosting can be made with either fresh cream or whipping cream.
Chocolate: I use a really dark, bitter chocolate with high percentage of cocoa for this frosting. It helps bring a rich chocolate flavour without having to use too much chocolate.
Jaggery: Since I use a bitter chocolate, jaggery brings in the required sweetness to the frosting.
Here is the detailed written recipe:
 For the Cake: For the Frosting:Ingredients
Instructions