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Moist, basic chocolate cake with lots of melty chocolate chips

Chocolate Chip Cake

Moist, classic chocolate cake with lots of melty chocolate chips
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Makes: 8 large slices
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (210 gms)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt, if using unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder (28 gms; see notes)
  • 1/3 cup hot water (80 ml)
  • 230 gms butter, at room temp (1 cup)
  • 1 cup caster sugar (190 gms)
  • 2 eggs at room temp (see notes)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup plain yoghurt (60 ml, see notes)
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 175 C. Grease a 9" round cake tin (I prefer springform for easy removal).
  • In a small bowl, stir the cocoa and hot water till combined. Set aside.
  • Now, in a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer on medium speed till pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat briefly to combine.
  • Now add the yoghurt and beat lightly. Then sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold gently with a spatula to combine into a soft, thick mixture. You can use the hand mixer too, but the flour may fly around a bit.
  • Now pour in the liquid cocoa mixture. Stir it in, then fold in the chocolate chips (reserve a couple of tablespoons of the chips). If needed, use a hand mixer to break up any lumps in the batter.
  • Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin and smoothen the top. Sprinkle with the reserved chocolate chips and bake for 45 to 50 minutes until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. Since ovens vary, start checking for doneness at 40 minutes. Make sure you don't mistake melted chocolate chips for wet batter! A few moist crumbs on the toothpick are ok.
  • Let the cake cool completely to room temperature. This also helps any cracks on the surface to close up. Then slice and dig in! Store at room temperature in an airtight tin for 2 to 3 days, although in humid weather, I prefer to store it in the fridge where it will last 10 days. Simply bring it to room temperature or lightly warm up a slice before eating. Happy baking!

Notes

*You can also bake this cake as a 9x5 loaf cake, increasing the baking time to about 60 minutes.
*The original recipe uses buttermilk instead of yoghurt but I found yoghurt keeps the batter slightly thicker and prevents the chocolate chips from sinking right to the bottom. Both versions taste great though so you can go either way.
*Dutch-process cocoa is recommended for the best flavour. However, a regular natural cocoa like Hershey's is fine too. Read more about the types of cocoa here.
*I have not tried an eggless version of this recipe but for an equally good, tried and tested eggless chocolate cake, see here.
*Adapted a little from Homemade Decadence.