This Mandarin Rosemary Chocolate Fudge Cake is the perfect show stopper to place on the table after an epic holiday feast. Because you always have room for dessert.
Chocolate Fudge Cake
Okay guys. This Mandarin Rosemary Chocolate Fudge Cake cake is everything. The rosemary infused cake is super moist and the frosting is deep and rich with chocolate and mandarin zest. It is also super simple to make too. I mean the mini gingerbread house is totally optional, but really you can keep it pretty simple by just frosting the middle and the top and leave it at that.
Because the ingredients list is so minimal, I highly recommend you use the best of the best. I actually wanted to make a chocolate fudge cake because I found some French butter at a super fancy grocery store.
So How Do You Make It?
You start by infusing some rosemary in some milk.
Then you melt the best butter and chocolate you can find and add it too the milk.
You pour all that goodness into a bowl of flour, cocoa powder and sugar. Look at that batter. It's fuggy already.
Decorating the Cake
As I mentioned before you can keep it very simple by just frosting the middle and top layer and leave it as is. However if you wanted to take it up a notch you can do as I do and embellish the crap out if it. With edibles and herbs of course.
First thing is to cool your cakes at room temperature and then wrap them up in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer overnight. It is oh so important to let them cool at room temperature as your cakes are still technically baking. You want them to finish what they are doing and then freeze. This really helps in decorating.
Once they are very firm use a serrated knife to make the top of the cakes flat. Don't worry don't throw away those cake scraps. I have a recipe on how to use those and left over icing in an up coming post.
Put the bottom layer on a cake stand and frost with about a cup of frosting and top with some candied orange rind. Top with the second layer of cake and frost with the same amount of frosting.
Now it's the fun part. Take some dehydrated mandarin slices and arrange them around the cake and use some rosemary sprigs to form some makeshift trees. You can add a gingerbread house if you feel like it.
Gah how insanely cute is this cake??
It's made with one of my favorite flavor combinations (chocolate and orange), which fun fact was one of the flavors of our wedding cake. You can have a look at our wedding here if you wanted to be nosy. Hehe.
Enjoy this cake so much and make it for everyone you love. They will certainly feel all the feels when they see you bring it out.
Ingredients
Rosemary Infused Chocolate Fudge Cake
- 2 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ Cup Cocoa Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 ½ Cup Beet Sugar
- 4 Eggs
- 1 ½ Cup Milk
- 2 Sprigs Rosemary
- 1 Cup Melted Unsalted Butter
- 1 Cup Melted Dark Chocolate
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Paste
Chocolate Mandarin Frosting
- 1 Cup Milk
- 2 Cups Melted Dark Chocolate
- Zest of 2 Mandarins or Oranges
Optional Garnishes
- ½ Cup Candied Orange Peel
- ½ Cup Dried Mandarin or Orange Slices
- Few Springs of Rosemary
- Mini Gingerbread House
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line two 8 inch cake tins with parchment paper. Spray with coconut oil and dust all over with cocoa powder. Set aside.
- In a large bowl sift in the flour, baking powder & soda, cocoa powder and salt. Then mix well with a whisk. Add in the sugar and set aside.
- Infuse the rosemary with the milk by simmering it on low for 10 minutes. Take out the rosemary leaves and add in the chocolate and butter. Cool to room temperature and then add in the eggs one at a time.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
- Divide the mixture equally between each pan and bake for 30-40 minutes until cooked with tested with a toothpick. Cool in the tin for about 10 minutes and then loosen by dragging a knife around the edges. Turn out the cakes to a wire rack to cool completely. Then wrap in plastic wrap and place in the freezer.
Make the Frosting
- Melt the milk, vanilla and chocolate on low heat in a sauce pan add in the zest. Cool to room temperature and whisk until fluffy.
Decorate The Cake
- Take the cakes out of the freezer and trip the tops off so that it's level. Keep the scraps as we will be using those for another recipe.
- Place one layer on a cake stand and frost with half the frosting. Add in some candied orange slices if you want then cover with the second layer and frost with the rest of the frosting. Decorate with dried mandarin slices and rosemary.
Kalman Honig says
There was nowhere in the instructions that noted where to use the sugar nor the vanilla. We tasted the cake and it was bitter