♥ Two-Layer Triple-Chocolate Cake ♥

     Smitten Kitchen is honestly my new hero.

    Seriously. When you're a girl, you're PMSing, and you want chocolate, there's probably nothing better than having a chocolate cake sitting in your fridge, where you can simply walk up and grab a slice at your whim.

    For the longest time, I've been on the hunt for a chocolate cake recipe. But not any recipe: one that actually works. I've tried hundreds, and...Okay, maybe not hundreds, but I've tried enough to become extremely frustrated when I try yet another "Award Winning" recipe, and it just falls flat: either because it's not chocolatey enough, it's too dry, it's too plain, bla bla bla.

    So, when I stumbled upon Smitten Kitchen, a wonderful woman who's a part time foodie/food blogger, I was a little unsure as to whether or not I should trust her recipes: after all, a baker can only have so much trust in recipes when they fall flat each time.

     But Lord, am I glad I trusted her. Honestly, I have never ever been so proud of myself before: this was the first cake I've ever made, and I'll give myself props for once: It came out perfect.

    Really, it did. I barely give myself any credit on that though, being that the wonderful recipe was adapted by her from a Gourmet magazine recipe. The cake was so beyond moist (but still had a perfect crumb), and it was very chocolatey: not bland with a barely-there chocolate taste like the typical Hershey recipe cake. The frosting was well, kind of like Chocolate Heaven smeared all over the cake, and probably could have been eaten from the bowl, if not for the tiniest bit of self control I had left by the time I finished frosting the cake. After letting it sit in the fridge overnight (and thinking about it the entire night), I couldn't wait any longer: by 1 p.m. the next day, I cut my siblings, cousins (who were over for a sleepover during my 7 Hour Baking Marathon that night), and I each a slice, and boy were there some happy campers in my kitchen, me being the happiest one. Aside from the fact that my taste buds were swimming in chocolate bliss, I couldn't have been anymore proud of myself: I made an entire cake, it didn't fall apart, it was actually edible, and my entire family couldn't get enough of it. My smile was stretching from ear to ear all day long.

    I'm not going to lie though: it wasn't easy to do. I mean, the actual process of baking the cakes itself was pretty simple, as was making the frosting. The actual putting together of the cake is where I became stumped: first, my frosting wouldn't really thicken (which I later learned that it needed to sit for at least 2 hours before spreading..I know, I'm a genius.), and second, I had no idea how to frost a cake. It always looked so easy when my mom did it, and trust me: she did it a lot. She's always making cakes, and I sometimes go into a trance watching her frost: I'm not sure how she does it, but she always seems to somehow get it to look messy and smeared on, yet perfect and neat at the same time. Sigh.

    As you can see above, my frosting skills are far from the greatest, but I found a simple way to hide that: a handful of chocolate curls, scattered all over the top of the cake. They're elegant, easy to make, and they actually taste good, as opposed to chocolate sprinkles, which really have no chocolate taste whatsoever (next pet peeve: unedible/tasteless food decorations.) Anyway, I tried my best on the frosting, but as you can see, I probably could have done a lot better. If you ask my family though, I don't think they particularly cared all that much.

    Anyway, aside from the extreme joy and pride I gained (along with the extra 10 pounds I'll have to work off now) from the cake after it was baked, frosted, and eaten , the actual process was quite the adventure. While making the cake, I had been making the frosting for my Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes, slicing up loaves of Banana Bread, taking care of five loud, hyperactive children, and trying to clean up after myself so I wouldn't be left with a huge mess at the end of the night, all at the same time. [I know, I'm quite the multi-tasker..] Needless to say, it wasn't the easiest night I've had in a while, but I didn't say I didn't enjoy every second of it.

  Regardless of how smooth I'm making everything sound (if even), there were quite a few moments I'll probably never forget from that night. Like the moment I flipped my first ever cake: I don't think I could have ever been more terrified. Would it come out clean, or would it break and chunks of cake would be stuck all over the pan? To my luck, the cakes flipped out perfectly onto plates. Yay for problem #1 avoided!

    A few minutes later though, just when I thought everything was going well, as I was standing above my stove, making sure the cream and sugar boiling on the stove wouldn't burn, a giant (when I say giant, I mean about 1 to 2 inches long) thing crawled out from under my fridge and just about gave me a heart attack. (You know how I said I didn't think I couldn't have been more terrified than when I was flipping my cakes? Yeah, I lied.) This mutant insect, which looked like some horrifying mixture of a spider, an earwig, and a centipede, started crawling toward me, flipping its little antennas toward me, and I pretty much died. I screamed (thankfully not loud enough to wake anyone, being that it was 3 in the morning.), dropped the whisk in my hand, bolted from the stove (away from my very delicate frosting mixture) and I jumped on a chair, not knowing what else to do.  Then I was stuck: do I let my cream burn, leaving me frosting-less? Or do I get over my phobia of terrifying, disgusting insects and just kill it? Well, as my cream started boiling, I had no choice: as I watched it come back out from under the fridge,I took my foot, and, while wearing my dad's over sized shoe, squished that little sucker until it was mush. I felt kind of bad for it as I vacuumed up it's remains, but as I imagined it crawling towards me again, all guilt was gone. In fact, I was slightly tempted to take it's little body, hang it on my door, and put a sign up telling it's little friends to beware, for this could be their fate. (Idea courtesy to my crazy, sadistic boyfriend. You know who you are. ♥ ) Lesson to all my insect "friends" out there? Don't get between me and my pastries.

    Anyway, after my insect-from-hell incident, it was time to frost. This seemed fairly simple at first, but as I began, the task became more daunting than I thought. I did my best though, but well, for anyone else, well: you may want to take a look at a few lessons before you begin. And, maybe a few more... (I can guarantee you'll do a heck of a lot better than I did.)

    Now, before I continue rambling on, lets get to the actual recipe part.

    The cake was simple to make; you don't even need a mixer (even though it makes things a lot easier.) No butters and sugars need to be creamed, no egg whites to be whisked; just two bowls and a mixing spoon to whisk this magic cake to perfection.

     What makes this cake even more perfect? The fact that the frosting doesn't require a mixer either! I wish I had known from the start though: in order for the frosting to thicken to a spreadable texture, it needs about 2 hours to sit and set up. It's a ganache frosting, meaning it's made from chocolate and cream; it's a heavenly combination, but unfortunately, it does take time to make.

    So, after about two essays worth of rambling, I hope I've convinced you to make this cake.

    I haven't?

    Well, let's give you more reasons then!

♥ It's amazing.

♥ It's chocolatey.

   No. It's beyond chocolatey. Like chocolate heaven, piled high on your spoon (or fork; your preference.)

♥ It's fudgy; like my Dark Chocolate Espresso Brownies, only in cake form (but not at all like a cake brownie. No, no, no.)

♥ It's magical. It will make you smile. It will make your taste buds sing to the Chocolate Gods above. It will make your children happy. It will probably pack on a few pounds to your tummy; but, it's worth it.

    Have I convinced you yet?

    Good.

    Happy baking! ♥

Two-Layer Triple-Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

(for two 10- by 2-inch round cakes)

♥ 3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut (I used Hershey's, and it came out perfect)

♥ 1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee

♥ 3 cups sugar (I didn't have enough white sugar on hand, so I did half granulated/half dark brown. Again, it worked out perfectly!)

♥ 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

♥ 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)

♥ 2 teaspoons baking soda

♥ 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

♥ 1 1/4 teaspoons salt

♥ 3 large eggs, room temperature

♥ 3/4 cup vegetable oil

♥ 1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk, room temperature

♥3/4 teaspoon vanilla

1.) Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease pans. Line bottoms with rounds of wax paper and grease paper. (I just sprayed each pan with non-stick spray, and they came out fine.) 

 
2.) Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
3.) Into a large bowl, using a whisk, sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

 4.) In another large bowl, beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well.

5.) Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well.
6.) Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

7.) Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.

For Filling and Frosting:

♥ 1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut (I used Hershey's)

♥ 1 cup heavy cream

♥ 2 tablespoons white sugar

♥ 2 tablespoons light corn syrup

♥ 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

 

1.) Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved.

2.) Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.

3.) Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used, it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency) (It takes two hours for frosting to come to a spreadable consistency.) Or, I found that stirring this over a bowl of ice water did a great job of cooling it off quickly and evenly.

4.) Spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.

 Enjoy! 

[I know I did.]

♥