Romanian chocolate cake or prajitura Boema, an incredible triple chocolate cake soaked in caramel syrup and topped with ganache and cream, is a must-have recipe for all chocolate lovers.
You will not believe this cake! Chocolate heaven, I suppose.
Triple chocolate: the base is made with cocoa, a rich glaze to cover the cake, and a decadent ganache topping. And to increase the calorie number, some nice whipped heavy cream on top.
What is Boema?
This is one of those cakes we used to be able to get in any Romanian coffee shop at any given time. Or order it as a birthday cake and serve it at home to guests. I did not have it often, but the last time I did, I must have been quite grown-up already because I can totally remember the taste.
I was not much into chocolate, but still, I liked this triple chocolate cake because it was so moist, dripping with syrup, and had lots of whipped cream on top, which I have always been very fond of...
A classic Romanian cake, this is definitely for the hardcore chocolate lovers out there.
To tell you the truth, I don't remember ever using so much chocolate for just one recipe, and, mind you, the cake is not even particularly large; the baking tin I used was only 24x24 cm/ 9.5x9.5 inches. Yet I needed 450 g/15.8 oz chocolate for the cake...
You should not miss these other chocolate cakes either: the Hazelnut Chocolate Banana Cake, the Chocolate Cheesecake, or the Flourless Chocolate Cake.
Ingredients
Chocolate:
- When posting a chocolate cake or dessert on the blog, I always recommend using the best chocolate you can afford, the one sort that you enjoy eating as it is, and not some cheap baking kind. I feel that if a recipe contains so much chocolate, the quality does matter.
- I recommend using European-style dark chocolate for this recipe (German, Swiss, and Belgian chocolate would be fine).
- I have recently heard that American chocolate is not quite what we are used to and love in Europe, and as the recipe requires such a large amount of chocolate, I worry that the taste of the cake would not be authentic if you use another kind of chocolate.
Cream stabilizer:
- The cream stabilizer is not always necessary; you will have to decide for yourself if the whipped cream is stable enough or not.
- The cream stabilizer can be replaced with a mixture of icing sugar and cornstarch in a 1:1 ratio. In this case, you will mix 2 teaspoons icing sugar with 2 teaspoon cornstarch and use exactly as described in the recipe.
Otherwise, the remaining ingredients are nothing special, the usual ingredients needed to make a cake.
Tips
I would say that this is really a cake to impress. So, if you are planning a fancy birthday party or just want to treat yourself to the moistest, most delicious Romanian cake, give Boema a try; you will love it!
Making this recipe is not particularly difficult, but it does involve more steps than usual, so you have to take your time and be patient.
Make the cake step by step, finishing one step before starting with the next one. Otherwise, the process of making the cake might become stressful.
And please use a digital kitchen scale; it guarantees for best results! (Amazon affiliate link opens in a new link).
What to make ahead?
- The base, the ganache, and the syrup all need time to get completely cool before assembling the cake, so make them in time.
- You could make them a day in advance.
- In this case, let the base cool completely on a wire rack, wrap it in foil to prevent it from drying out, and leave it on the counter until needed.
- Once you've made the ganache, place a piece of cling film/plastic wrap on top to prevent it from forming a skin. Once cool, keep it refrigerated, but remove it from the fridge about one hour before using it.
- Syrup: let cool, and keep on the counter until needed.
More waiting time:
- Boema also needs to spend some time in the refrigerator (about 30-40 minutes) after you've soaked it with the caramel syrup.
- And another 30 minutes or longer after you've glazed it.
Topping:
- The ganache needs to be whisked until fluffy before using it.
- The same with heavy cream.
- You will need two piping bags with large nozzles to pipe the ganache and the whipped cream on the cut squares.
More impressive chocolate cakes
Romanian Chocolate Cake - Boema
Ingredients
- Base:
- 2 eggs medium Germany, large US
- 130 g/ 4.6 oz/ ⅔ cup sugar
- 150 ml/ 5 fl.oz/ ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- 100 ml/ 3.4 fl.oz/ scant ½ cup milk
- 200 g/ 7 oz/ 1 ⅔ cups flour
- 50 g/ 1.8 oz/ ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Ganache:
- 230 ml/ 8 fl.oz/ 1 cup heavy/double cream
- 230 g/ 8 oz dark chocolate
- some icing sugar to taste
- Syrup:
- 150 g/ 5.3 oz/ ¾ cup sugar
- 230 ml/ 8 fl.oz/ 1 cup water
- Glaze:
- 230 ml/ 8 fl.oz/ 1 cup heavy/double cream
- 50 g/ 1.8 oz/ ¼ cups sugar
- 230 g/ 8 oz dark chocolate
- Topping:
- 230 ml/ 8 fl.oz/ 1 cup heavy/double cream
- 50 g/ 1.8 oz/ ½ cup icing sugar
- 1 packet whipping cream stabilizer Dr. Oetker, optional (See note)
Instructions
Base:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking dish 24x24 cm/9.5x9.5 inches with parchment paper.
- Mix together the eggs and the sugar until creamy. Add oil and milk and incorporate.
- In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and cocoa and sieve over the egg mixture. Fold in gently. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, level and bake for 18 minutes. Let cool completely.
- Make the ganache and the syrup immediately after preparing the cake, they have to cool as well.
Ganache:
- Chop the chocolate very finely, I prefer to do this in the food processor, it is quicker and finer. Place the chocolate into a bowl.
- Heat the heavy cream in a small pot. When it starts to simmer pour it over the chocolate in the bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes then whisk with a hand whisk until the chocolate is completely melted and shiny. Cover with cling film and let stand until completely cool, it should take at least two hours.
Syrup:
- Place the sugar in a non-stick pan and let caramelize, start stirring with a wooden spoon when it starts to caramelize and don't let it burn.
- When the sugar has a nice deep brown color, slowly and carefully pour in the water. The sugar will harden immediately, keep stirring until it dissolves completely. Let get cool.
- When the cake is cool, cut it into small squares, about 4-5 cm/1.6-2 inches. Place the cake squares into a square baking dish. Carefully and evenly pour the cold syrup over the cake pieces. Place the dish in the fridge and let it there for about 30-40 minutes or until the cake has absorbed all or almost all the syrup.
Glaze:
- Chop the chocolate very finely, I prefer to do this in the food processor, it is quicker and finer. Place the chocolate into a bowl.
- Heat the heavy cream in a small pot. When it starts to simmer pour it over the chocolate in the bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes then whisk with a hand whisk until the chocolate is completely melted and shiny.
- Pour the glaze using a tablespoon over the cake squares letting the glaze dribble over the edges of the cake. Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes or longer until the glaze has set.
Topping:
- Beat the heavy/double cream shortly. Mix the icing sugar and the whipping cream stabilizer (if using) and slowly add to the cream while beating all the time. Beat until the cream stiffens.
- Place the whipped cream in a piping bag fitted with a large nozzle.
- Beat the ganache until very fluffy as well, adding some icing sugar to taste. Place the ganache in another piping bag fitted with a large nozzle as well, the nozzle I used for the ganache was even larger than the one I used for the whipped cream.
- Nicely pipe the ganache over each cake square.
- Pipe the whipped cream on top of the ganache.
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
That looks seriously rich and ever so tempting with whipped cream and ganache.
Monica says
I'm at the edge of my seat here looking at this! I am your absolute chocoholic so this screams out to be. Looks amazing! What a wonderful treat! That ganache!! : )
grace says
a chocolate lover's dream come true! this is absolutely decadent.
Sissi says
Gorgeous cake, Adina. I shouldn't look at it too long because otherwise I'll be tempted to make a chocolate cake this weekend...
I'd like to add that French "cooking" dark chocolate is excellent for those who have access to it. Not only the quality is good, but also the fat content is (apparently) adapted to pastry making.
Kim | Low Carb Maven says
Oh, wow! Adina, this cake looks amazing. I don't mind desserts that take several steps and this one looks worthy of the extra time. I agree with you about the chocolate, but Ghirardelli is one American chocolate that may do will in this recipe - maybe a darker blend like 60% or 72%. Thanks for sharing this luscious chocolate cake!
Jess says
I made this last night. Followed recipe exactly (I've been baking for 10 years). Although the texture is definitely more brownie-like than cake-like, I found it to be a bit on the dry side.. and although it had a rich chocolate flavour, the cake itself lacked sweetness.. I do want to try this again, but I think I'll be making some alterations (a bit more sugar, and adding some vanilla extract, and a bit of salt to bring out flavors etc.)
Kelly Smith says
Do you think this method would work for the syrup? I'm nervous about browning the sugar by itself in the pan.
https://www.itsyummi.com/quick-easy-caramel-syrup/
Adina says
Hi Kelly. The ratio of water and sugar is different than mine, so I can't say that it would work, I think the syrup in the link is thicker, so the cake would be way too sweet. you can try that method keeping my ratio, but I can't say how that will be without trying myself. If you are worried about splatter when you caramelize the sugar, wear long sleeves and gloves, but if you are careful nothing will happen. Good luck!