Recipe:
Garten, I., (2006) Beatty's chocolate cake. Food Network. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beattys-chocolate-cake-recipe/index.html
Ingredients
Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Directions
Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.
Chocolate Frosting:
6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.
**** Notes, Suggestions and Modifications from Junior Barefoot Contessas ****
The cake batter seemed really thin when we were pouring it into the pan, this is a GOOD thing, as the cake was perfectly moist.
To prevent tunnels in your cakes: we suggest dropping the cake tins (with batter in them) on the counter a few times. This will cause the air bubbles to rise to the surface and pop. Not only does it make for a beautiful cake, but it is sort of fun too :)
After reading reviews of this cake, we learned that the frosting recipe results in a more mocha flavored frosting (thanks to the super concentrated instant coffee). Since we love chocolate for than the average person, we decided that we wanted our frosting to be more chocolate and less mocha.
Our Solution : Instead of adding the instant coffee to the frosting, we opted for a less "mocha" frosting experience, and just used 2 teaspoons of already brewed hot coffee :)
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The result: An incredibly light and moist cake, with very few tunnels (see suggestions and modifications for how to do this).
We are thrilled that our first cake from scratch turned out so well, usually we are disasters in the kitchen!
Our rating, out of 5 possible stars: * * * * *
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