Feb 10, 2012

Food || Chocolate Cake in a Box – Easy Peasy!




This Valentine’s Day,

  • are you married/dating/in a relationship and looking to do something special for your ‘special’ one?
  • are you single and looking to do something special for yourself?
  • are you sick of all the hoopla every year and will be busy at work only to return late at night with no time to do anything special, but that’s okay because it isn’t even a special day anyway?
  • are you one of those eternal chocolate haters who will not touch anything with even a hint of chocolate in it?

If you’ve answered in the affirmative to any of the above, I have just the thing for you. If not, I still have just the thing for you. No matter what your stance in life, this cake cannot fail you. Fine Print: And if it does, well, then you don’t know me and I’ve never heard of you before. :D

It’s Chocolate Cake in  Box! Well, originally it’s not made in a box, but I made it and put in a box, and ate it out of the box, and then washed the box and put it away, and hence the name Chocolate Cake in a Box! And let me tell you, it was one of the best comfort foods ever. It is also gender-neutral. As in, people can make it and enjoy with ease regardless of gender. Especially so, if you're a guy looking to impress your woman. :D




I made this cake almost a year ago, when I had lunch with my two best girlfriends. We ordered in some Chinese food that day, kicked back on the couch and chatted away, and later for dessert, there were three spoons and my Chocolate Cake in a Box! Needless to say there was a lot of 'mmming' that followed. :D

So without further delay, I present to you the recipe of my Chocolate Cake in a Box! Okay, I’ll stop saying that now.

There are two parts to the recipe – The Cake and The Ganache.

The Cake - 

Believe me when I tell you this is the easiest and least messy cake to make in the world. No mixing bowls, no eggs, nothing!

  • Preheat your oven/convection microwave/whatever it is you use to bake at 180C/350F for 10 minutes or so.
  • Take an 8 inch square baking pan/dish/tin or any other shape that would hold the same volume. It must not be greased. In it, dump 1.5 cups maida (all purpose flour), 1 cup sugar that's been powdered, 1/4th cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1tsp baking pwd, 3/4 tsp baking soda, and 1/4th tsp salt. Mix it all up with a spoon. In order to avoid lumps, you can sift the dry ingredients first.




  • Next, add 1/3rd cup melted butter (unsalted, room temperature), 1 cup warm water, 1tsp vanilla essence, 1 tbsp lime juice. Whisk it all around so there aren't any lumps in the batter.




  • Stick the pan in the oven at the same temperature for about 30 minutes. Or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. 
  • Cool the cake and put it in a Box! Or, just leave it in the pan and eat from it directly. Who cares, really?






The Ganache Frosting - 

The name might sound a bit fancy if you've never made this before, but again, it's really really simple. A child could make it.

  • Take 50 g of Dark Chocolate and 50 g of Milk Chocolate. (Cooking chocolate that's available in any grocery store). You can substitute this with 100 g of semisweet chocolate if you like, or use more chocolate if you like it really sweet. I wanted it rather mild so everyone could enjoy it. 


  • Chop up all the chocolate and place it in a bowl



  • To this, add 3/4 cup or 180 ml of Amul Fresh Cream and 1 tbsp unsalted butter (at room temperature). 




  • Place a large bowl of water on the stove and bring it to boil. Then place the bowl of chocolate over the bowl of water, and keep stirring until everything melts and forms a smooth paste. It's really quite fun to do this.
  • Remove from heat and allow it to cool to room temperature. Your ganache frosting is ready!


  • You can pour this directly over the cake, or do what I did. Whip it! Preferably use an electric whisk or egg beater to save your arm from falling off. But it gets so much more creamier and yummier. Like this!



Note: This recipe has been adapted from this one, at JoyofBaking.

The ganache can be completed as the cake is baking. So once I had them both ready, I simply slathered the chocolate frosting all over the cake and took the box to my friend's. And then we dug in and this is what it looked like:


Huh, well won't you just look at that. Looks like we dug in pretty neatly. But feel free to make a mess as you please. After all chocolate is the tastiest when it's the messiest! :D

Happy Valentine's Day, folks! Lemme know what your plans are.



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23 comments:

  1. This is something as simple as eating:D Loved the recipe! Thanks:) Best part- No eggs(I am a vegeterian)I was planning to make a chocolava cake but will make this one also:)

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    1. Yes it is, CD! Glad you liked the recipe. Do let me know how it turns out, and the chocolava cake too.

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  2. I have never heard of a simpler recipe for a cake. Next time I go home, it's chocolate cake in a box time for every one!

    Let your wisdom flow so that we, the uninitiated, benefit from you :)

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    1. Haha, there's nothing so 'wisdomous' about a chocolate cake, Keirthana. Glad you liked the recipe and do let me know how it turns out :)

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  3. Going to send this to Amma right away :) I want to try it too, but I cannot cook to even save my life :/ (save a cup of coffee and the occasional cup noodles, and I'm sure that doesn't count as cooking!)But this does look yumm and it does seem easy, I'm almost tempted to try :D

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    1. You don't need to really know cooking to do this, it's more like a kid's project. However if you are very prone to kitchen disasters, you might want to have someone supervise you :D Hope your mom enjoys the recipe! Oh, and who says coffee doesn't count as cooking?? It's the most important thing!

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  4. This is going onto the top of To-Do list post my two month long exam season and you are evilll to have posted this just as my exams have begun.

    Loved the last line, yes, chocolate is indeed much tastier when its messiest.

    As for Valentine's day plans - Will be romancing a 10 inch thick textbook just like last year and the year before that as well.

    Cheers :)

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    1. Aww, had no idea about your exams, didn't mean it :( But yeah do try it once your done, as a treat to all the hard work you've been putting in. On a side note, reading your comment makes me so glad I don't have to romance 10inch thick textbooks anymore :D Yep, I'm evil like that.

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  5. ooooooooh!!!! I want that cake like NOW!! Sounds mysteriously easy!! You sure you didn't miss out any of the difficult parts? :-) Happy Valentines Day!

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    1. Thanks Nirvana, Happy Valentine's to you too. No trust me, it really is that simple. Pinky promise!

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  6. Ah! here come the sinful pleasures.. :)

    BTW, my V-day will be spent with the first love of my life - Miss.sleep. I spend all my nights with her, so on V-day I will add some extra hours. Also, they say she is the only one who is going to accompany me for ever too..

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    1. Yep, sinful indeed! Ahh, sleep. Three years into marriage, trust me, that doesn't sound so bad. :D

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  7. Oh! you are making me loose my control and DIG into it sinfully!!

    I am hosting Boticca.com giveaway currently, where you can win $100 worth of jewelery and bags...Just click the link below...I'll wait for you there :)

    Enter Boticca.com giveaway and win $100
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    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hey there, thanks for stopping by! Will try and check out your giveaway soon.

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  8. Really nice!! It looks comfort food type, totally. I so want a chinese order take out, two good girl friends, a nice couch and a chocolate cake in a box now!

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    1. Thanks Archana! I so want to do that too, it's been almost a year since I got to.

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  9. This looks yummylicious and really simple too. I will try it out sometime soon. :)

    Thank you so much for sharing this!

    I haven't baked cakes before. Kinda scared to start. This looks like a good way to start. :)

    No plans for Valentine's Day as such. Gotta go to work. The hubby and I *might* cook and eat a very simple meal together. Or grab some chaat (that we both love) on the way home from office. Yes, we're as boring as that.

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    1. Thanks TGND! Baking is scary to start, but it isn't so bad trust me. I was scared too, but I tried and after a few failed attempts that ended up in the trash, I finally got a hang of it. All you need is a good oven, a good recipe, and then follow it religiously. All the best! Oh I really don't have anything planned for V-Day either. Just going to be another weekday. :D

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  10. Came over from a common bloggers blog and wow why am i not regular here :) yummy delicous sumptuous ...

    I want this I need it yeah I NEED it ... :) drooling over it now ..

    Bikram's

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    1. Hey there, Bikramjit! Welcome to The Daily Moo, thanks for stopping over. Glad you liked the cake :)

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  11. Ok .. Went from your blog to my To-do list .. failed miserably .. Ended up eating more of raw material (read chocolate) .. but a nice afternoon spent in all along with work from home .. By the way kudos to your steps, the output of my failed attempt didnt taste that bad either .. lol

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  12. Hmmm hope u had a great valentines day.. Saw u on my blog .. same came over to see. I like ur blog template and the title quiet interesting.. Yeah I love chocolate any day. Given in my health conditions I cant afford to have one... But I love baking too.. If I cant eat I like make it for my family.. :D I am following you too..

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