commentbeatty’s chocolate cake
this is probably not a great post to start off the new year. if you make this recipe, i can pretty much guarantee it will ruin any attempt at a new years resolution to eat healthier. in fact, it’s happening to me. like right now. as in, i’m eating this cake as i type this post and i can’t stop – and although i feel a little guilty, it’s just too good to put down.
you have to understand, this is an ina garten cake – yes, THAT ina garten cake. i think it’s made its rounds on the food blogosphere already, but i’ve only just discovered it (thanks to the girl and her copy of ina garten’s Barefoot Contessa at Home), and now i’ve converted to the church of chocolate cake. the problem with most chocolate cakes is that they end up too dense and crumbly. since this one is loaded with buttermilk, it’s incredibly moist and delectable, even a week later. the frosting is smooth, rich and still gives a good flavor contrast to the cake.
sure, you can make this recipe and stack it like a normal 2-tier cake. but if you want to “class it up,” do what i did and get some biscuit cutters of varying sizes and create some new cake shapes. then, because both the cake and frosting have coffee in them, top your tiny cakes with chocolate covered espresso beans. making tiny cakes gives people the illusion of only eating a little bit, when each one is really much larger than one serving of normal sized cake.
i have to apologize to any of my coworkers that read this blog. i was planning on bringing in some of this cake to share, i really was, but i just haven’t been able to bring myself to do it. i’ve got tons of leftover cake from cutting out the rounds a bowl of frosting left too, but i’m sorry, i’m going to be selfish on this one. this cake is all mine. time for another bite.
beatty’s chocolate cake
from Barefoot Contessa at Home. sooooo good.chocolate cake
butter for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffeechocolate frosting
6 oz semisweet chocolate (not chips)
1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter (at room temperature)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbsp instant coffee powder1. make the cake: sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer on low speed until combined. in another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla.
2. with the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. with the mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine. pour the batter into 2 buttered and floured 9 inch cake pans. bake at 350 for 45-40 minutes. cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. at this point, you can frost the cakes as normal, or use a biscuit cutter to cut out smaller cake rounds.
3. make the frosting: chop the chocolate and microwave it for 40-50 seconds, then stir to completely melt. set aside to cool. in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed until fluffy. add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for about 3 minutes.
4. turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, then beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy. dissolve the coffee powerd in 2 tsp of hot tap water. on low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. spread immediately on the cooled cake.
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Don’t throw out those leftover bits of cake and crumbs! Mixed with a bit of softened vanilla ice cream and put back into the freezer to firm up again, it makes a wonderful dessert.
Pete, I’m a new subscriber from Ohio. I bake for a local farmers market 5-1/2 months out of the year and am always looking for good new recipes. So I am excited to receive your posts. There are only three sources that I consider so reliable that I don’t need to bake a test batch before ones I plan to sell: Ina Garten (her Awesome Brownies are my best seller), Cook’s Illustrated/Cook’s Country, and King Arthur Flour. I am including a link for their German Chocolate Mini Cakes that are very similar to the one you posted, but with the normal coconut/pecan topping. The cake is divine as well (love having the scraps as you did on yours). Try this one once. I sell lots of these, too. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/RecipeDisplay?RID=1173293407025 Look forward to reading future blogs. Thanks so much, Pete.
Forget resolutions and eating healthier! This cake is making me dizzy!! Happy New Year!
I’ve been meaning to try this recipe for ages! I will definitely give it a shot now. One of my all time favorite indulgences is a slice of cold chocolate cake from the fridge (with chocolate frosting of course!) and a tall glass of milk. YUM.
Oooh, that’s mean! I love the mini cake idea, very cute.
These look soooo good! I mean, why don’t we all just do our New Years Resolutions in March when people are actually in the mood to shape up? That’s my plan and I’m sticking to it. Bring on the cake!
These look delightful. Nice idea on giving the illusion of only having a small piece… insidious and delicious!
You are an evil, evil man. Keep it up.
Hi! In this ingredient list for the cake, it says “1/2 vegetable oil.” 1/2 a what – tsp? Tbsp? Cup?
@Meghan – good catch! it’s 1/2 cup vegetable oil. i’ve fixed it in the recipe above. thanks!
I keep bookmarking new chocolate cake recipes to consider making for my boyfriend on his birthday. Yours has just been added to the list!
The very first day of my diet and I come across this! It DOES look like the best chocolate cake ever!
m off to my kitchen to make one right away…lol
first time here. loved ur place. drop by in on mine sometime..wud be glad to show u around my 2.5 months old baby..lol
I love this cake too! It is fantastic!
I love the stacked mini-cake idea. It’s definitely a mignardise!
If you left me alone in your kitchen, you would come back to find me eating these with my bare hands. They look like they could settle even the worst of chocolate cravings.
I think I’ll make this for my mom’s birthday this week! I can’t wait!
OMG! What are you doing to me? I would die for a slice of that cake. I guess I’m going to have to settle for a Hersey’s kiss or something, as I don’t have time tonight to fire up the oven. GOT to put that one on my to do list. I don’t blame you for not sharing!
Do you have a suggestion for replacing the coffee? I don’t drink it and really don’t like the taste of it in cake either. Having a hard time finding a moist chocolate cake from scratch.
I’ve made it several times. First time, with the coffee, and at first I didn’t like it. But, after putting it in the fridge overnight, I ate some the next morning, and couldn’t put it down after that. The icing itself is so good I made a half batch (omitting coffee) and refridgerated it and ate it just by itself like fudge. To. Die. For. This is THE best chocolate cake I have ever eaten. Subsequent times baking I have omitted the coffee, and just added water. It does make a difference serving it cold for some reason. It makes it even more irresistable. I’ve read about people having problems with their cakes exploding in the oven, or falling after they were removed, etc. But I have not had any problems with it. Also, I’ve never had problems with there not being enough icing. I always have some left over, and that’s after applying a generous amount to the cake.
Thanks for the recipe! I found another good one at pandalous. It’s here: http://www.pandalous.com/nodes/chocolate_cake_recipe