I love surprises. Especially when they come in the form of CHOCOLATE! I recently recieved a HUGE bag filled iwth lindt chocolate and what better way to celebrate this delicious surprise than to bake with it! Now I spent a while thinking of all the creative and amazing things I coudl bake but ultimatly my thoughts always lead to to the chocolate cake. I know I know… its jsut another chocolate cake.. but wait.. IS IT!? This one is a bit different. Ofcourse i used the dark Lindt chocolate and for the cake but instead of using jsut chocolate flavour, i decided to go witht he Lindt chocolate orange zest flavour for the frosting. And OMG was it amazing! Literally you can smell the uberness of the cake. My entire apartment smells like lindt chocolate… heck im nto complaining! 😉

Its a simple recipe, and takes a little time, but its sooooooooo worth it! My baking pans were 6 inch, and are perfect to serve up to 12 people.. (Yes 12! 6 inch goes a looong way when you ahve three layers!)

Here’s how you bake it!

INGREDIENTS: 

Cake –

• 200 g Lindt 75% or 85% chocolate (depending on how dark you like)
• 800 g sugar
• 375 g plain flour
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 500 g boiling water
• 10 tsp dark cocoa powder
• 200 g sour cream OR greek yogurt
• 218 g vegetable oil (I use rape seed oil)
• 4 eggs slightly beaten 

Frosting – 

• 200 g Lindt Intense Orange Chocolate
• 180 g heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 

METHOD:  

For the cake –

1. Preheat the oven to 175C
2. Prepare three 6 inch round cake pans with baking paper.
3. Melt the lindt chocolate in double broiler (or in a bowl over a simmering pot of water) then let it cool.
4. In a large bowl, add the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt and whisk together.
5. In a separate bowl mix the hot water and cocoa
6. Then add the sour cream and oil and whisk.
7. Add the wet mixture in a stream to the dry ingredients and mix until blended.
8. Add the lightly beaten eggs slowly while beating on low.
9. Add the cooled melted chocolate and mix until uniform in color.
10. Bake in the middle of the oven for roughly 35-40 mins , or until a cake tester (or toothpick) comes out clean.

Frosting –