This salted chocolate rye cake is the densest, fudgiest and most indulgent cake I’ve ever made in all the best ways! It does mean you can’t eat too many slices, but means its perfect for a celebration or an excuse to get your friends over. As who’s gonna turn down cake?!
Salted chocolate rye is a combination that I first tried in Edinburgh two months ago, when I took my sister for a birthday weekend surprise. I had booked for us to go to the Luna Cinema to see La La Land in the Royal Botanic Gardens. I had visions of the sun setting over a glorious backdrop whilst we sipped gin&tonics and ate a delicious picnic. Now whilst we did sip gin&tonics and eat delicious food, it was all within the space of 15 minutes before the heavens opened and we struggled through 2 hours of non-stop rain all the while watching the splendid LA sun… We were true Brits that day, with soggy crisps and sodden sausages rolls surrounding us.
But what I did manage to eat relatively drizzle free was the best chocolate cake ever to exist. We found a cafe called Lovecrumbs, that is exactly the kind of cafe I’d love to own one day. The decor was gorgeous and oh god the cakes. They just looked insane, but their salted chocolate rye cake spoke out to me. The depth of flavour that the rye flour provided was so delicious and salting the chocolate ganache counted the richness perfectly. I just loved it! And knew I had to recreate it, simply just so I could eat it again as Edinburgh is sadly far far away from me.
So my recreation journey began with research into rye flours; nerd glasses on! You can get light, medium and dark rye flours. The darker the rye the more bran is used which gives you the distinctive colour and flavour of a deep rye loaf. In cake form, the darker the rye the denser and fudgier your sponge will be. Its abit of personal preference really, but I opted for a medium rye for this cake.
For the filling and decoration I opted for a simple ganache with a generous sprinkling of salt. In the middle layer I also added some dark chocolate chunks for added texture, and more chocolate because sometimes if you’re gonna go in you should go ALL in.
In the sponge I added 240ml of coffee, which helps to keep the sponge super moist and really deepens the chocolate kick.
I really love this cake. Its such a different take on the usual chocolate cake and is way better than eating a loaf of rye bread, right?? Let me know if you give it a go 🙂
Salted Chocolate Rye Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 155 g plain flour
- 155 g medium rye flour
- 95 g cocoa powder
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 150 ml vegetable oil
- 400 g caster sugar
- 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 360 ml whole milk
- 240 ml hot strong brewed coffee
Ganache
- 370 g dark chocolate
- 240 ml double cream
- 1 tbsp maldon sea salt flakes plus more for decoration
Filling
- 50 g dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- For the cake: Firstly pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan and grease and line two 8" baking pans. In a small bowl, sift together the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarb and salt. Then set aside until needed.
- Using a hand mixer beat together the oil and sugar for about two minutes. With the mixer still running, add the eggs, egg yolk, vanilla and almond extract ensuring you scrape down the sides to incorporate all the mixture.
- On a low speed, add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Again, ensure you scrape down the sides to incorporate all the mixture. Remaining on a low speed, stream in the coffee until just combined.
- Evenly divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the sponges bounce back. Let them cool on a wire rack in the pans for at least 10-15 minutes, before removing them from the pans to completely cool.
- For the ganache: Break the chocolate into small pieces and place into a heatproof bowl. In a pan heat the cream until just beginning to simmer, then pour this over the chocolate. Leave for a couple of minutes and then stir until smooth. Add the sea salt flakes and stir again. Then set aside until its a spreadable consistency and is cool.
- To assemble the cake: Place one of the sponges onto a cake board or serving plate. Then top with half of the ganache and the chocolate chips. Place the other sponge on top, and spread on the remaining ganache. Sprinkle with some more sea salt flakes if desired.
I’m hooked on this one. I had a big bag of dark rye flour in at the start of lockdown found your recipie and the rest is history!
I’m playing with it a bit as we don’t always have all the ingredients to hand, but rest assured you’ve helped a very novice baker dad keep a toddler entertained and his pregant mum full. Thanks! keep at the baking dream. you could and should compile a book of your stuff! I’d buy it!
Thank you so much for your lovely comment!! Its truly made my day 🙂
I’ve been obsessed with using rye flour for cookies as of late and when I found this recipe I couldn’t resist! Absolutely Amazing! I’ll be making this again and again for a long time to come! Thank you!!!!