The Best Chocolate Cake

For Ultimate Chocolate Lovers! This rich Chocolate cake with layers of ceam and chocolate is the best Chocolate cake sure to satisfy your sweet cravings! 
I got the recipe for this cake from my roommate during the University years. She was a very nice girl from Hungary and once baked this cake for us. Well, what can I say - it was the love from the first bite! I asked for the recipe of the "Hungarian Chocolate Cake" and we lived happily ever since - I and my newfound Chocolate love. This cake is one of the richest chocolate cake I’ve ever made and although it requires a bit of work and time, the result is definitely worth it. I promise.

Ingredients

The cake:
150 gr dark chocolate or chocolate chips
3 tbsp. butter
1.5 tbsp. water
6 eggs, separated
12 tbsp. sugar
9 tbsp. self-rising flour
3/4 cup cherry or strawberry jam
The filling:
150 gr dark chocolate
2 cups cold whipping cream
3 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla extract
The ganache:
50 gr dark chocolate or chocolate chips
3 tbsp. cacao powder
5 tbsp. sugar¼ cup water

Directions

Make the cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 360 ºF

2. On the stove over the low heat, in the double boiler, melt the chocolate, butter and water, stirring occasionally until blended well. Remove from the heat and put aside to cool.
3. With electric mixer, beat the yolks with 6 tbsp. of sugar for about 5 minutes.
4. In a separate bowl, with electric mixer, whisk the egg whites with 2 tbsp. of sugar for about 5 minutes or until firm and fluffy.

5. Combine all the mixtures (2+3+4), add flour and mix carefully, by hand, picking all the flour from the bottom and sides of the bowl until blended well.

6. Transfer the dough to the greased 9 inch spring form and bake for about 20 minutes or until the wooden toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost dry. Don’t overbake! Take it out of the stove and leave it to cool.
7. Cut the cake to 2 equal rings.
8. Over the low heat or in a microwave, heat the jam so it will be warm. Spread half of the jam on the lower layer of the cake.
Make the filling:
9. In a small pan, over a low heat, melt the chocolate. Remove from the heat and put aside to cool.
10. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk the whipping cream with vanilla and sugar for about 5 minutes, until stiff. Put 1 cup of the cream aside (*). The rest of the cream mix with the melted chocolate and spread ½ of it over the first layer on top of jam.

11. Spread ½ cup of whipped cream we left aside (*) on top of the chocolate cream.
12. Repeat the process once again in the same order: second layer of cake, jam, chocolate cream, and then the whipped cream (*).
Make the ganache:
13. In a small pan, over a low heat, (or in double boiler) melt all the ingredients of the chocolate ganache, stirring frequently until melted and blended well. Pour over the center of the cake and spread evenly over the cake. 14. Let it cool on the counter for about 20 minutes and then store in a fridge for a couple of hours before serving.