Chocolate Cotton Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Description:
This recipe is adapted from Chocolate Cotton Cake by Demo Tulip. This recipe has been a hot topic at Klub Berani Baking mailing list. At the end, one of the members, Mae, made it as a 'fill in' challenge while we are waiting for the next challenge from the lovely baking club.

Cotton cake is usually baked with au bain marie method to keep the crumb moist. However, this cake does not need this method and still keep the moist crumb. The recipe has been cut into third from the original quantity.

The white cake is the white chocolate fudge cake.

Ingredients:
Cake:
60 g margarine, Logicol, melted

50 g all purpose flour, sifted mixed with
15 g cocoa powder, Dutch processed, 16% fat, Home Brand, sifted

1 Tbsp full cream milk powder + 75 mL hot water
5 egg yolks, beaten loosely
1 tsp vanilla extract, Queen's

115 g caster sugar
5 egg whites
0.25 tsp cream of tartar


Ganache - melt the ingredients on double boiler:
100 g dark chocolate, Lindt 70% cocoa
150 g milk chocolate, You'll Love Coles Belgian chocolate
200 mL thickened cream



Directions:
Preheat oven to 160 deg C. Line the base of 22.5 x 32 cm baking tin with a baking paper. Place the oven rack at lower third shelf.

Melt margarine in microwave in a big bowl. Then add flour and cocoa by sifting them over the melted margarine. Mix them well.

Add hot milk to egg yolk and mix them until well combined. Add to the flour mixture in two parts, mix them until becoming smooth paste at each addition. Put it aside.

Beat egg white at low speed until frothy, add sugar and cream of tartar. Beat at medium low speed until soft peak, It takes about 5 minutes. Do not overbeat until stiff peak as this makes the cake dry.

Add a little bit of the egg white mixture and mix it with flour mixture. Mix well.
Then add all flour mixture to the egg white mixture, mix it quickly. Do not take to long otherwise the batter will liquify.

Pour the batter to the prepared tray. Bake the cake for about 30-35 minutes. Turn on the grill and bake for another 5 minutes.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin. Garnish with ganache.