I had to bake a cake for my friend’s child’s first birthday party last weekend, so I went with a chocolate one because everyone, no matter what anyone says loves chocolate cake, unless you are nuts or live in a small hole in the ground somewhere. I have a very nice chocolate cake recipe that works every time I whip it out, but this time around I thought I would try the recipe below that I got off Desserts For Breakfast. It came out very nicely, not the same as my usual one, but still very nicely. I didn’t try her icing recipe, instead I stuck to the one I like, but if you’re keen to try hers, just click here.
I also thought I would try decorate it a bit differently to how I normally decorate my chocolate cakes, which is just slather it with as much icing as it will stand. After I iced it, I whipped up some marshmallow icing and made small peaks all the round the outside of the cake then filled it with sprinkles, I liked how it came out…. anyway here is the cake recipe if you would like to try it and I have included my recipe for icing that will have you literally licking the inside of the bowl for 20 minutes after making it. Guaranteed.
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups Sugar
425 gr all purpose flour
1 cup + 2 Tbspn cocoa powder
1 1/2 tspn salt
2 1/4 tspn baking powder
2 1/4 tspn baking soda
3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cup hot coffee
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease, flour, and line the bottoms of three 8″ round cake pans.
2. In a mixer bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix to combine.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the beaten eggs, vegetable oil, and milk. Stir to mix. Then, with the mixer on low, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix on low until evenly distributed.
4. Pour the hot coffee into the batter and mix on medium low until smooth. The batter will be soupy.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans.
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes. When a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out cleanly, the cakes are done. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
7. Level the cakes (this is easier if they’ve sat in the freezer for at least one hour beforehand).
ICING:
170g good quality dark chocolate – I used 80% Lindt chocolate
1 & 1/4 cups unsalted butter
1 & 1/4 cups of icing sugar (sifted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp pre-made instant coffee
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a bowl beat the butter and caster sugar until smooth and creamy.
2.In a separate bowl melt the chocolate the chocolate (in the recipe it says to do so over a a pot of lightly simmering water, I just melted mine in the microwave a bit at a time and it came out fine).
3. Add the vanilla and the coffee to the melted chocolate mixing them together, the mixture will start to go a bit lumpy, don’t worry, just add this to the butter and caster sugar and beat gently until glossy and smooth. (I guess if you are going to double the cake recipe, you should double this one too for more icing).
4. Use a palette knife to decorate the cake, spreading icing in between the layers and then all around the outside of the cake. Then pipe, using a round tip nozzle, the marshmallow icing in small peaks around the cake, before adding sprinkles, of any kind in the middle of it.
* Then I thought I would introduce you all to another nice blog that belongs to Lyndsay called Coco Cake Land. She decorates cakes so beautifully and makes the nicest things that you feel almost sad to smash into your face because they’re so pretty. Check it out, she shows you step by step how to decorate cakes and cupcakes and she takes nice photos of the end result.
I have included some of the things that got me flipping amped about her blog, I think my favourite are the Courtesan au chocolat (translation: the first cakes below), they’re straight out Wes Anderson’s movie Grand Budapest Hotel. I so want to try make these and more importantly eat them ALL.
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