…the CHOCOLATE detail! Oh yeah!
September/October/November is Birthday Season. No chocolate cake is safe; especially in my house.
The latest chocolate cake sacrificed to the Birthday Gods was this fabulous little number:
The Husband and I have been off gallivanting at the farm so this was a quick, after-work special whipped up to celebrate my boss hitting the big six-0. I don’t care how old you are confetti sprinkles and a chocolate birthday cake is always a winning combo. This cake didn’t live to see one day, but in our defence the sprinkles made us do it…
devil’s food cake
ingredients
- 180g butter, softened
- 385g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 225g self-raising flour
- 75g plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 70g cocoa powder
- 125ml (1/2 cup) water
- 3 teaspoons instant coffee granules (or if you prefer, like I do, omit the coffee granules and replace the water with a 1/2 cup of a strong espresso coffee)
- 125ml (1/2 cup) milk
- 1/2 teaspoon red food colouring
method
- Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C (or 160 degrees C if your oven is fan-forced).
- Beat the softened butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy then add each egg, one at a time, until all mixed together.
- If you are using the coffee granules, mix the granules with the water to dissolve. If you are a coffee fiend and have an espresso machine make a short espresso (1/2 cup of espresso).
- Sift all flour, soda and cocoa.
- Combine the sifted dry ingredients with the beaten butter/sugar, coffee, milk and red colouring. Stir until combined.
- Separate the mixture evenly between two 20cm (approx 8 inch), greased tins.
- Bake for approximately 40 minutes (each oven is different, so don’t be afraid to check after 30 minutes to see how they are faring).
- Remove from oven, leave in the pans for five minutes then turn out onto a wire cooling rack.
Icing
This recipe is an adaptation from Sweetapolita’s Nutella Cloud Frosting. Because of the warm weather we have been having I made the icing firmer by omitting milk, adding a bit more chocolate and only two tablespoons of nutella. As the cake was sweet enough I did not want an over-powering nutella flavour either, so I feel two tablespoons was more than enough when paired with the devil’s food cake.
ingredients
- 227g unsalted butter, cut into cubes and softened
- 190g icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 140g dark chocolate, melted
- 2 tablespoons nutella
- pinch rock salt
method
- Beat butter and caster sugar in mixer with a paddle attachment until creamy, light and fluffy. Add vanilla.
- Melt the chocolate using your preferred method (personally I use a double boiler saucepan rather than the microwave).
- Once the chocolate has melted and cooled slightly add gently (medium power) to the butter/caster sugar whilst continuously beating. Stopping to scrape down the sides.
- Add the nutella and salt. Beat until to combined.
icing method
I am the first one to say my technique isn’t perfect…but you have to LOVE the practice! This technique I have seen used (and perfected) by Miette bakery.
- Once both of the cakes have cooled place the cake with the most uneven top on flat surface and use a sharp bread knife to remove the top of the cake so it is a flat surface. I used a turn-table, but if you don’t have one place the cake on a slip of kitchen paper on the bench.
- Place the newly topped cake on a board or plate. Put a good dollop of icing in the centre and with an off-set spatula smooth out the icing.
- Pop the second cake on top of the first, setting it as evenly as possible.
- Place the remaining icing in a piping bag with a large star tip (I used a loyal size 11 star tip). Starting at the middle of the cake, pipe the icing in a circle, working from the inside out.
- When the top is covered get the off-set spatula, and starting from the middle, smooth the top of the cake, but to get the piped edge effect don’t smooth out the very edge of the icing.