Over the past two years, pretty much ever since I started this blog, life has been changing at speeds I'm unaccustomed to. I'm trying to take it all in stride and maintain a positive attitude. Some days and situations can get me down and I think today I just really needed to celebrate something.
I have never baked a regular cake before, like a made from the box cake, just not from the box. I've made flourless cakes and unusual cakes but never just a standard chocolate cake with a buttercream frosting. I wanted to try to make a multi-layer cake and frost it to try some techniques I've seen and heard. I searched cookbooks and television shows and the internet before I landed on a recipe from epicurious.com. I chose it because it had coffee in it for depth of flavor and also buttermilk which I love. The buttercream frosting also came from epicurious and it was absolutely delicious although very buttery. In the future I may decide to use a different buttercream recipe to use less butter but this one was very delicious with the cake.
Double Chocolate Layer Cake
Ingredients:
3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
1½ cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups sugar
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1¼ teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
1½ cups well-shaken buttermilk
¾ teaspoon vanilla
- The recipe called for a 10 x 2" cake pan but I used a 9" x 1.5" and it turned out fine. I made three cakes so I just weighed the batter and then divided it by 3. That way I knew each cake would have the exact amount of batter.
Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease pans. I greased the sides first with butter then added the wax paper on the bottom and greased that as well. You could add a little cocoa powder at the bottom to further ensure the cake comes out from the pan cleanly. - Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
- Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour,cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer).
- Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well.
- Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean. Bake for 35 mins and upward until toothpick is clean.
Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.
Vanilla Buttercream- Rounded ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup water
- 1⅓ cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- This recipe begins two fold, making a simple syrup and beating the egg whites. Do not start beating the egg whites until the syrup reaches a boil.
Combine whites and salt in a very large bowl or stand mixer.
Stir together water and 1⅓ cups sugar in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan until sugar is dissolved, then bring to a boil over moderate heat, without stirring, brushing any sugar crystals down side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water.
When syrup reaches a boil, start beating egg whites with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until frothy, then gradually add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and beat at medium speed until whites just hold soft peaks. (Do not beat again until sugar syrup is ready.)
Meanwhile, put thermometer into sugar syrup and continue boiling until syrup registers 238 to 242°F. - Immediately remove from heat and, with mixer at high speed, slowly pour hot syrup in a thin stream down side of bowl into whites, beating constantly. Beat, scraping down side of bowl with a rubber spatula, until meringue is cool to the touch, about 10 minutes in a standing mixer or 15 with a handheld. (It is important that meringue is properly cooled before proceeding.)
With mixer at medium speed, gradually add butter 1 piece at a time, beating well after each addition until incorporated. (Buttercream will look soupy after some butter is added if meringue is still warm. If so, briefly chill bottom of bowl in a large bowl filled with ice water for a few seconds before continuing to beat in remaining butter.)
Continue beating until buttercream is smooth. (Mixture may look curdled before all of butter is added but will come back together by the time beating is finished.) Add vanilla and beat 1 minute more.
When the cakes are cool and the buttercream is ready, it is now time to assemble the cakes. If you have one, use a cake stand. Cover the stand with pieces of parchment paper, maybe use about four pieces that you can easily remove out from under the cake. The parchment paper will stop the buttercream from sticking to the cake stand and it can be easily removed once you are finished frosting.
To get the cake layers ready for frosting, brush off any crumbs. Make the each layer is level and if not shave some off with a knife. Place the first layer on the parchment covered stand. Frost the top and place the second layer on. Repeat until you are done with layers. Once the cake is assembled cover the top and the sides with a minimal layer of frosting, just enough to cover all the surfaces. Place cake in the fridge for about 30 mins to harden the frosting. This will make it easier to frost the rest of the cake if there is already a harden surface to spread the remaining frosting. Frost as much as you like and you can either make it smooth or a more creamy look. And ta-da hopefully you will have a delicious and beautiful cake.
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