I fell on my face today. Faceplanted. On the concrete in front of my office building. Ripped the skin off both of my knees, tore up my palms. It was totally graceful.
Oh and you want to know why I was so graceful? I was rushing back into the building because I had left my tea in my car. The tea my husband had made me because I’d been up all night with an upset stomach.
That’s pretty much how my birthday has gone. I’ve been in a crummy mood all day. One of my friends in the St Pete office had pizza sent to my desk for lunch, and I’ve had a lot of well wishes. I’m grateful for that, but I just can’t clear the funk out of my head. Just one of those days I guess. But that’s the beauty of this blog. You all get to laugh at the thought of me laid out like a starfish on the sidewalk.
HA HA HA
OK you can stop laughing now. Stop it. STAHP. OMG. You guys are so mean.
My husband asked me other day what my favorite flavor of icing is. I told him, “Mine, of course.”
That wasn’t the answer he was looking for, especially since he’s never had my chocolate buttercream, so he has no idea what it tastes like. I really need to remedy that. And really, I can’t take credit for this recipe. I saw it on Barefoot Contessa a few years back and I fell in love with it. I don’t make it near often enough, and it is just so so good. This is my go to chocolate cake recipe. The cake itself is the most flavorful, moist cake you’ll ever have, and the frosting really is to die for.
I make this cake two ways: as a traditional layer cake, or as a trifle dessert. To make the trifle, make the cake as follows, but instead of building it as a cake, tear apart the cake into chunks and layer it with frosting and whipped cream in a big glass bowl or trifle dish.
Also, this is a cake that you need to spend all day on. Let the cakes cool all the way, and don’t rush. The crumb is so moist that everything will just fall apart if you try to go too fast, and the buttercream will melt if the cakes are still hot.
Beatty’s Chocolate Cake
Adapted from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa
For the Cake:
1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 Tbsp lemon juice with 1 cup milk, let sit for 5 minutes)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup coffee
Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 2 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment (this is important, these cakes stick like crazy), then butter and flour the pans.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on low-speed until combined.
In another bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
With mixer on low-speed, slowly add wet to dry. Add coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula(because this batter is so liquid, some of the heavier stuff gets stuck on the bottom, make sure you mix that in).
Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the cake tester comes out clean. For me, it’s best to err on the longer time, these cakes will fall if not cooked long enough.
Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn onto a cooling rack or wax paper and cool completely.
Place 1 layer (the less pretty one), flat side up on a cake pedestal. Spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on top and down the sides of the cake.
Chocolate Buttercream
From Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa
6 oz good semisweet chocolate (I use Ghiradelli 60%)
1/2 pound butter, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp instant coffee powder
2 tsp very hot water
Chop chocolate and place in heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until its light yellow and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla, beat 3 minutes. Turn mixer to low, gradually add powdered sugar, then beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy.
Dissolve coffee powder in 2 tsp of hottest tap water. On low-speed, add chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don’t whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.
Chasing After Gold Mines 