How did you spend your Saturday night?
I spent mine baking a cake!
Not as wild as some of the Saturday nights I have known, but sometimes you just have to swap the booze for the butter. I was totally in my element! I put on my apron, MGMT and Mika, and just rocked out in the kitchen. This is what people do when they’re single.
Today is my grandma’s birthday, so I jumped at the excuse to bake. When I came across this recipe at The Pink Peppercorn blog two weeks ago, I knew I had to try it, and a 67th birthday seemed like the perfect occasion! Honestly, there’s nothing “shed” about this recipe, but I feel pretty good about indulging in something I made myself. I waited until right after dinner to make it though, so I had no interest in sneaking bites and licking the bowls. I’ll wait until dessert to enjoy!
I was surprised by how un-sweet the cake is. I don’t mean that in a bad way; it’s just not as sugary as most chocolate cake and I like that. The shot of espresso makes it even more grown up.
The real star here is the icing. If you are pressed for time or cash, I’m all about “semi-homemade” baked goods. Use a box of Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix, and put your efforts into the frosting (although it’s so simple, it doesn’t require much effort). The icing is whipped cream cheese, whipped cream, and powdered sugar, but it doesn’t taste like any other frosting I’ve ever had. It’s a million times better than cream cheese frosting, less sweet than buttercream (again, in a good way), and somehow really silky and cool tasting. It pretty much tastes exactly like melting vanilla ice cream.
Even if you don’t have a grandma with a birthday coming up, I’m sure you can find another lovely excuse to bake this baby!!
Creamy, Dreamy Chocolate Layer Cake
3/4 cup boiling water
3/4 cup unsweetend cocoa powder
1 shot espresso (I hit the Starbucks drive thru for this!)
1 cup buttermilk
2.5 cups all purpose flour
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1.5 sticks butter, softened and sliced into smaller chunks (Softening the butter is very important, because if it’s not soft, it will take much longer to blend the batter. Do NOT put it in the microwave to soften it—that melts it. I let it sit outside for about 30 minutes and it was perfect.)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
I had most of my ingredients at home already, but I did have to pick up some additions.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9-inch-round layer-cake pans. (I used a spray, like Pam, made specifically with flour for this purpose.)
In a medium-sized bowl, pour boiling water and espresso shot over the cocoa powder to dissolve the cocoa.
Whisk out the lumps. Add the buttermilk to cool the mixture. Set aside.
In another medium-size bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Use an electric mixer to beat the sliced butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
[It was at this point I realized I did not have any vanilla. This is something we always have, so it was tres annoying. I sped to the corner store and was surprised to discover the herbs de Provence I had to go to two stores to find for the birthday chicken. Of course they were at the little neighborhood grocery a mile away.]
Finally, add vanilla.
Beat the dry ingredients into butter mixture, alternating with cocoa mixture (beginning and ending with dry ingredients.)
Pour into the prepared pans, dividing the batter equally.
Bake approximately 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. (One of the cakes took about 5 minutes longer to cook than the others. It was in an older pan, so I’m guessing that’s to blame. But be sure to check each one!)
Cool for at least 10 minutes. Then turn cakes out of pans onto wire racks to cool completely.
While cakes are cooling (I let mine cool for a whole hour), make the frosting!
Creamy, Dreamy Frosting
1 container (8 ounces) whipped cream cheese
2 cups whipping cream (heavy cream)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups powdered sugar
One milk chocolate candy bar, for garnish [I left mine sitting on the counter and then set my laptop on top of it. It melted. I'm awesome! After that fail, I used the dark chocolate bar my mom bought me last week.]
With an electric mixer, beat the container of whipped cream cheese on low to soften.
[It was at this point I discovered I had a very limited amount of powdered sugar. I am a flake...check your cupboards thoroughly!]
Beat in 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Add vanilla.
Beat in another 3/4 cup sugar until smooth.
Add 2 cups whipping cream and slowly increase the speed until high.
Add rest of powdered sugar. Beat until stiff.
To make the chocolate curls use a vegetable peeler on room temperature chocolate.
To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on a serving plate. Use a spatula to spread on one-third of the frosting.
Top with another cake layer and repeat with another third of frosting.
Repeat with the final layer and the remaining frosting. Sprinkle chocolate curls on top for garnish. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
I am so excited for tonight to top this cake with candles and surprise my grandma. I’ll report back on the taste then, but so far, from the nibbles, everything seems pretty promising!
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