Ready your forks, as today marks International Chocolate Cake Day and the perfect excuse to sweeten the palate.
Treat yourself to an indulgent slice of decadent heaven – a worthy cheat treat that has room in a balanced, healthy lifestyle, advises Cynthia Bombe, a pastry sous chef at Time Square Casino and Entertainment in Menlyn Maine.
“What makes the perfect chocolate cake is the quality of the chocolate. You need to use the right chocolate and follow a good recipe. I prefer to use buttercream instead of butter icing for the frosting,” says Bombe.
“Everyone loves a good chocolate cake because it strikes the middle of being decadent and indulgent but also not being too sweet. Served with cream fresh sorbet, amazing!”
The 29-year-old from Diepkloof in Soweto knew she had a passion for service and hospitality from age 17, skipping church to serve home-cooked meals to her family.
“I loved cooking and used to assist my mother a lot in the kitchen. It was so bad that I even skipped church to cook Sunday lunch. Everyone would wake up on Sundays and go to church and when they come back, lunch will be ready,” she says.
“My mom didn’t like that, but at that time it’s what I loved and kept me motivated. As soon as they come back from church, the house is clean, I’ve cooked and then I’m waiting to serve.”
Bombe also baked scones and jam tarts, which she sold to support her family. She holds a chef’s certificate in food preparation from the HTA School of Culinary Art.
“When I arrived at Time Square as a commis chef, we were divided and I was placed into pastry, even though my background is culinary. Everything I know about pastry I learnt on the job,” she says.
Seven years later, Bombe is the inter-hotel 2025 Pastry Chef of the Year titleholder, beating out 26 candidates. The recognition of her work continues to fuel Bombe to create edible showstoppers and decadent desserts inspired by TikTok and industry trends to appease diners.
“I usually get the opportunity to experiment with new flavour combinations at banqueting, and it’s where I play with different desserts to accommodate the new trend, such as the fruit-shaped dessert and the recent viral Japanese cheesecake – I can’t wait to put my own twist on it,” says Bombe.
Bombe shares her favourite way to breathe new life into leftover cake.
Leftover chocolate cake pops dipped in silky chocolate sauce with crushed walnuts
Ingredients
Leftover chocolate cake
1 cup of dark chocolate
1 cup of crushed walnuts
Packet of lollipop sticks
Method
In a bowl, crumble the leftover cake and combine.
Take the cake mixture and roll it into balls, transferring each ball to a lined tray.
Push a lollipop stick into each ball.
Place into the fridge for an hour to set.
Break the chocolate into pieces and melt the dark chocolate in the microwave, blasting it and stirring at 10-second intervals until smooth.
Pour out the crushed walnuts into a bowl.
Once the chocolate is smooth, dip the chilled cake pops.
Allow the chocolate to drip a little over the bowl.
Dip the chocolate balls into the crushed walnuts and erect them to stand upright in a baking tray with parchment paper to dry at room temperature for an hour.
Another option is to place them upright in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Classic chocolate and caramel cake with whipped cream and strawberry liqueur
Ingredients
To make the chocolate sponge:
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup cocoa powder sifted
4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 cups hot water or hot coffee
4 large eggs
4 tsp vanilla extract
To make the whipped cream frosting:
3 cups whipping cream, cold
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
To make the caramel treat filling:
2 tins caramel treat
To make the strawberry liqueur syrup:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup strawberry liqueur
3 cups of fresh strawberries, halved
Method
To prepare the chocolate sponge, preheat the oven to 180°C, grease four small round baking pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.
Place all dry ingredients into the bowl; whisk to combine.
In a medium bowl, whisk all wet ingredients, slowly adding hot water or hot coffee so as not to cook the eggs.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and mix well. The batter should be thin.
Pour the batter evenly into prepared pans.
Bake for 40 minutes or until the cake tester or knife comes out mostly clean.
Cool the sponges for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To prepare the whipped cream frosting, whip cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks in a cold bowl with a cold whisk.
To prepare the strawberry liqueur syrup, add sugar and water into a small pot.
Stir and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 minute, then remove from heat.
Stir in strawberry liqueur and allow to cool completely.
To prepare the caramel treat filling, in a bowl, whisk the caramel treat till smooth.
To assemble the cake, cut each cake layer in half horizontally.
Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate as the base. Brush generously with strawberry syrup.
Evenly spread whipped cream and spread evenly. Add strawberries and gently press them into the whipped cream.
Repeat with the remaining layers and frost the outside of the cake with your choice of frosting.
Decorate as desired.
