This Dark Chocolate Truffle Cake Will Drive Away Your Monday Blues

Who doesn't abhor Mondays? That miserable, depressing feeling with a percolating, blue background. But here is something that can fix even your saddest of Mondays. This rich and decadent dark chocolate truffle cake would certainly make those blues fly off with its moist, gooey smoothness of dark chocolate truffles, creamy chocolate ganache, and edible gold dust finishing off the ultimate luxury.

This delicious dark chocolate truffle cake is your ticket to cocoa land that will keep all the disheartening disappointment at the start of the week at bay.

Ingredients: 

For the cake:

• 250 gm plain flour
• 130 gm sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• A pinch of flaky sea salt
• 245 ml milk
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 100 gm butter (melted)
• 100 gm Cadbury Bournville dark chocolate

For the chocolate truffles and ganache:

• 440 gm dark chocolate
• 210 ml cream
• 6 tbsp butter

Options for Garnish: 

• Edible gold dust
• Cadbury Nutties
• Cadbury Shots
• Espresso powder
• Orange or lemon zest
• A pinch of salt
• Coffee liquor

Method: 

1. First, preheat the oven to 180°C, and grease and flour three cake pans.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Separately, whisk together whole milk, eggs and pure vanilla extract.
4. Add the melted butter to the milk mixture, and whisk until super smooth.
5. Then, you have to gradually pour the dry ingredients over the wet ones, and whisk till just combined.
6. Roughly divide the batter among prepared pans, and let them bake for 40 minutes. Check the doneness of the cake by inserting a toothpick through the center. The cake should ideally have a bounce, but also be significantly moist. 
7. Transfer them out of the pans, and then place them on a wire rack so that they could cool completely.
8. To make the truffle balls, divide your ingredients in half, and keep the rest to make the ganache. Now, melt dark chocolate in a double boiler.
9. Take the melted chocolate off the heat, and mix in heavy cream along with unsalted butter. Cover it in saran wrap or cling film, and refrigerate. 
10. The next morning, use a melon baller or a regular spoon to scoop up the truffle mixture and then press together with your hands to form into smooth spheres.
11. Now, to make the chocolate ganache, melt dark chocolate in a double boiler.
12. You can take it off the heat after it has thickened, and stir in heavy cream until smooth.
13. While assembling the cake, you have to place one layer of the cake on a serving plate.
14. Then, you need to follow it up with a generous spread of ganache on top.
15. The third layer has to be of the truffles placed on top.
16. In this manner, you need to repeat for the other cake layers.
17. In the end, you can top the cake with the remaining ganache.
18. Just before serving and slicing the cake, you must not forget to sprinkle edible gold dust on top.

To amp up the chocolateyness of the cake, you can make ganaches out of milk and white chocolates, and apply different chocolate ganaches on different layers of the cake. You can also coarsely crush a handful of Cadbury Nutties and Cadbury Chocolate shots and fold them into the truffle mix so that the truffle balls have some bite and texture. Conversely, sprinkle chopped hazelnuts or pecans on top of the ganache just before serving for added crunch. 

You can even add a spoonful of Cadbury drinking cocoa or Bournvita into the cake batter to intensify the flavor. But always remember, when using chocolate, it is always best to keep additional sweeteners like sugar and honey to a minimum to let the natural flavor of the chocolate shine through. 

You can replace heavy cream with coconut cream if you want it dairy-free, and add a little melted liquorice candy to the batter to balance out the flavors. If you are in the mood, you can experiment with orange or lemon zest to give the chocolate a lift. 

This dark chocolate truffle cake doesn't just beat the Monday blues, It also gives you the right measure of satisfaction if you crave something rich, decadent, and indulgent. This dessert can serve well for anniversary dinners and brunches with your friends, or even in family gatherings especially if you have chocolate lovers in the family.