Perfect Chocolate Cake
cake
Originally uploaded by megpi. For a while I have been searching for the perfect white cake and chocolate cake. Until recently I had misguided idea that the perfect chocolate cake had to have chocolate instead of cocoa powder. Today I learned how wrong I was.
I had picked up Kaye and Liv Hansen’s book, The Whimsical Bakehouse. I had picked it up not just for the great decorating ideas, but for the large amount of cake and frosting recipes in it. Today I tried out the chocolate butter cake with amazing results. The cake is moist, rich and very tasty.
I recommend using a good Dutch processed cocoa instead of the normal stuff. It gives the cake a richer, more chocolaty flavor, and gives the cake a dark brown, almost black color.
Chocolate Butter Cake
1 c hot coffee
1 c cocoa powder
1 c cold water
3 c cake flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
8 oz unsalted butter
2 ½ c sugar
4 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla
Whisk together coffee and cocoa powder until there are no lumps. Whisk in the water until smooth.
Sift together dry ingredients.
Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs in slowly.
Add the dry ingredients and cocoa mixture in alternately.
Place batter in to 9 or 10 inch greased round cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in to the middle, about 25 - 35 minutes.
Cool slice fill and ice.
Filling
I recommend the cookies and cream frosting also from the book. Just add crushed Oreo type cookies in to whipped cream and fill.
Decorating
I frosted the cake with whipped cream, but it can also be done with butter cream.
The dots were made of colored melted whit chocolate piped in to dots. Once cooled, press the dots in to the frosted cake bottom facing out. Color left over frosting and pipe around the bottom edge for a finished look.