Chocolate marsala cake, listed in the book ’50 Fabulous Chooclate Cakes’ as ‘never fail chocolate cake’ is my go recipe that I have made countless times. Each year I make it for my daughter’s birthdays, I’ve made it it for friends grieving and for friends celebrating.
I’ve made it as a 20cm round cake, cupcakes, mini cupcakes – even in a horse-shaped baking tin. It is always perfect, moist and always disappears quickly.
It is easy, quick and can be served with icing, fresh cream or nude with a sprinkle of icing sugar.
I always reduce the amount of sugar as I can’t stand over sweet cakes.
Marsala, a fortified wine, adds a delicious flavour, but don’t panic about serving it to kids – the alcohol cooks off leaving only a lovely flavour. If you don’t have marsala, which can be tricky to find, use rum instead.
GATHER:
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup marsala
125g melted, cooled butter
2 heaped tablespoons sifted cocoa
2 eggs
LET’S DO IT:
Line 2 mini muffin tins with mini muffin wrappers, pre-heat oven to 175C.
Add all ingredients into bowl of an electric mixer and mix on low speed until combined. Increase speed to high and beat for three minutes.
Spoon into muffin wrappers, bake for 15-ish minutes/until a skewer instead comes out clean.
Place on wire rack. When totally cool ice with ganache {RECIPE BELOW}.
CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
In a small saucepan over low heat melt 125g dark chocolate [broken into chunks] with 1/2 cup cream. Stir until melted, thick and glossy. Allow to stand 15 minutes until thick. Use knife to spread over cakes. Decorate with lollies/ heart-shaped candies.
the hungry mum 
Another boozy treat. Do I sense a yummy pattern here?
oooh, yes – now that you point it out I see that [delish] pattern!