TIP: Make a day ahead. Keep covered in the fridge. Remove one hour before serving and proceed with Step 11.
Ingredients
Method
Grease three x 20cm round cake pans. Line bases and sides with baking paper.
Stir ¹⁄³ cup hot water into cocoa in a small bowl until smooth. Cool for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, beat butter, sugar and golden syrup in a large bowl of an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Stir in half the sifted flour. Stir in buttermilk, then stir in remaining sifted flour until combined.
Spoon 2²⁄³ cups of the cake mixture into one of the prepared pans. Smooth over top.
Stir cooled cocoa into the cake mixture until well combined. Divide evenly among the remaining prepared pans. Smooth over tops.
Cook in a moderately slow oven (160C), swapping pans halfway, for about 45 minutes, or until cakes are cooked when tested with a skewer. Remove. Stand in pans for 10 minutes. Turn onto wire racks to cool.
To make the ganache, combine cream and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan. Cool for 10 minutes. Refrigerate, stirring every 15 minutes, until thick and spreadable.
Using a large serrated knife, trim tops of cake to sit flat. Place one cake on a serving plate. Spread evenly with ¹⁄³ cup ganache. Spoon over 2 tblsps caramel, leaving a 3cm border around the edge (or caramel
doesn’t ooze out the side).
Top with plain cake. Spread evenly with ¹⁄³ cup ganache. Spoon over the remaining caramel. Place the remaining chocolate cake, base-side up, on top.
Spread the remaining ganache over the top and around the side of cake.
Just before serving, decorate with chocolate bars and drizzle with extra caramel.
