Eggless Chocolate Cake - Anniversary special

I make plans to bake special cakes on occasions. I decide on the recipe at least a week in advance and I try to bake the cake the previous day or on that day. But I rarely get the timing right. I usually end up starting late and I rush through at the end. At other times I goof up with a particular recipe. That is exactly what I did on my anniversary day.
I had planned on making a chocolate sponge cake with whipped cream frosting. It was a weekday and I was planning to work from home that day, so that should have given me good time to bake. But that was not to be. First of all I was so busy with work that day and secondly I had friends calling up and wishing me for most part of the day.

When I got to the cake it was mid day.  The sponge turned out terrible :(. So I had to switch to a quick two bowl chocolate cake with ganache frosting. By the time I baked the cake, it was so late and we were planning to go out for dinner, I made the frosting in a rush and poured it over the cake.
The taste of the cake compensated for all the goof-up :). I finally served the cake the following day! Lo and Behold! Hubby dear gobbled up one entire piece of this sinfully tasty dense cake.

Ingredients:

Maida/Flour - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1/2 cup
Powdered sugar - 1 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Hot milk - 1/2 cup
Curds - 1/2 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Grease an 8 inch round cake pan. Line with parchment paper.
Sieve flour, baking powder and cocoa powder thrice.
In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar till fluffy.
Add vanilla essence, curd and baking soda; Beat well.
Add 1/2 of the flour mix and 1/2 of the milk, mix slowly and repeat the same process twice till everything is mixed well.

This cake can be baked in a microwave dish too. Transfer to the dish and microwave uncovered at 60 % power for 11 minutes.

Alternately it can be baked in an oven at 150 degrees C for 45 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes and invert into a rack or a plate.

For the frosting:

Dark chocolate chopped fine - 1 1/2 Cups
Cream - 1 1/4 Cup, I have used 25% fat, Amul
Unsalted butter - 1 tablespoon

Bring the cream and butter to a boil in a heavy saucepan, over low heat. Boil for a full minute, taking care not to burn the cream. Take off the heat. Gently stir in the chocolate and leave for 2-3 minutes, till the chocolate dissolves completely.
Chopping the chocolate fine helps it to dissolve faster. Stir gently with a spatula till it becomes a homogeneous mixture. (I goofed up here. I had chopped the chocolate coarsely, and so I had small chips of solid chocolate in the ganache).
Do not stir or whisk vigorously as it may cause the ganache to become grainy. Strain the ganache, cover the bowl with a cling film. Chill in the fridge till thick and of spreadable consistency.

You could also pour the ganache if you wish, in this case, no need to refrigerate the same.

I poured some ganache over the cooled cake. I used cling wrap and put the cake in the refrigerator. I also put remaining ganache in the refrigerator. The next day I took the cake out and brought the ganache to spreadable consistency and spread another layer on top of the cake.

Verdict: I was happy with the cake, although the ganache could have been smoother. This is one incredibly rich, dense cake with wonderful chocolate ganache! A good celebration cake... I plan to make this once more but in a leisurely manner :). Lets hope that happens.