sweet and pea

Is there such a thing as a wrong time to eat cake? One of my favourite things about making cake for someone’s birthday (or any occasion) is having a slice for breakfast the next morning. I probably shouldn’t, but nothing else tastes as good with coffee.

This chocolate cake is one of the best I’ve ever eaten, and by far the best I’ve ever made. I probably pull this recipe out 3 or 4 times a year. The cake layers are moist and the icing is rich and chocolatey without being overly sweet. If sweet icing is not your thing you can even substitute dark chocolate for the milk chocolate and cut out more sugar.

The original recipe calls for the cake to be chilled and then covered in a layer of ganache. I have done this as a ‘drip cake’ and it looks great, but in terms of flavour the ganache isn’t needed. Using a really high quality chocolate in the frosting will make a big difference here!

I decorated the most recent cake with flowers from my garden.

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup coffee
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and butter 3 eight inch cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda and salt. Add remaining ingredients and whisk on medium speed for two minutes.
3. Divide batter into cake pans and bake for 15 minutes
4. Cool cake in pans and then invert onto a wire rack

Frosting:

Ingredients:

5 oz milk chocolate
5 oz dark chocolate
1/2 lb unsalted butter
1/4 lb cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla

Steps:

1. Melt chocolate in a double boiler and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes
2. Beat butter and cream cheese and vanilla until a smooth paste is formed
3. Pour cool chocolate into cream cheese mixture and beat on high for 3-5 minutes, stopping frequently to scrape down sides of bowl
4. Spread mixture between cake layers, and cover the top and sides. Works best on chilled cake layers