We had some treasured friends over a few weeks ago, and the them for dinner was “Supper Club”. My husband asked that I make just a simple, decadent, old-fashioned chocolate cake for dessert. I have a tried and true chocolate cake batter that’s been in my repertoire for a couple of years, being used in my cake pops. There is a healthy dose of hot water and buttermilk to make things really moist in this cake. But what of the frosting? I didn’t want to make a butter-cream, which I think is too sugary sweet and takes a whole pound of butter (hi! Obnoxious?) So going to the recipe archives, I found a great frosting I have used for my daughter’s birthday cakes using chocolate bars, making things creamy and dreamy. You can make this frosting a couple days ahead, stored in the fridge, and just let it warm up to room temp and whip it before using.
So there you go. Chocolate on chocolate.
Simple. Decadent. Perfect.
Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake
Rich Chocolate Cake Recipe:
nonstick cooking spray & parchment paper
1 1/2 cups good quality unsweetened cocoa
3 cups flour
3 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups water
Milk Chocolate Frosting:
20 Tbsp. butter, softened to room temp.
1 cup confectioners sugar
3/4 cup dutch process cocoa
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. milk chocolate bars, broken up, melted and cooled to 85˚
Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚. Spray 3 8″cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. (You will have extra batter, so spray a 8″ x 8″ brownie pan as well. You can freeze this cake for later use, like cake pops or an after school treat.) Cut parchment paper to size and lay along the bottom of the pans. Spray again, and sprinkle pans with cocoa powder. Set aside.
Mix flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. With a paddle attachment on a stand mixer, mix the oil, buttermilk and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix in the dry ingredients slowly. Then add hot water. Scrape the sides and blend a few minutes more until smooth.
Pour the batter in the prepared pans, and bake for 45 minutes on the middle rack. The cake should spring back to the touch and toothpick comes out clean. Pop out cakes from the pans to wire racks after sitting in the pan for 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
Make Frosting:
In a food processor with the blade, process the butter, sugar and cocoa together until smooth and creamy. Scrape the sides with a spatula as you go. Next, add the corn syrup and vanilla and process until it is smooth and creamy again. Once your melted chocolate is at 85˚, pulse in the melted chocolate until it is all well combined with the butter mixture. Pulse until creamy and fluffy.
You can use it immediately. But I have refrigerated the frosting for a few days, and just let it sit out to room temp for a few hours until it begins to soften. I then whip it with a hand mixer to bring it “back to life.”
Fill the layers and frost the cake. Eat it all up with a glass of milk, because this is old-school deliciousness baby!
Cake batter adapted from bakearella.com
Flora is an award-winning creative director in Chicago turned food and lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. She is also author to the popular BEE NATIVE! gardening book series and various children's books that celebrate the wonder and hard work of bees and butterflies. Her blog and social spaces inspire thousands to create, learn, cook, grow, and craft, making their world lovelier one pixel/petal/seed/bite/stitch/brushstroke at a time. Follow her on all the social spaces, YouTube, and Amazon, and get creative!
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