Baking with Blobby

Today I'm tackling what I consider a big one: a double layer chocolate cake. 

Ina Garten's Beatty's Chocolate Cake. I don't think it's named after Warren..........but you never know. 

Honestly, I was looking for a reason to make a cake - this cake - but I just couldn't justify having a big cake sitting around. 

However, yesterday was our 15th wedding anniversary. We really never do anything special, though 710 said he'd bring food in for dinner, so. I thought I'd provide dessert. 

15 is traditionally the 'crystal' anniversary, but since none of us collect figurines or Waterford, I got us something we can both enjoy: pre-diabetes. 

Fifteen years later and I still tease 710 about not having Georgetown cupcakes on our wedding day. To be fair, while our wedding day was beautiful it poured late in the afternoon when we would have gone to get them. And for me, the only reason I got married was for cake. 

People swear by how good Ina's Beatty cake is (and how good I am) - so let's try it out, shall we. 

Cake Ingredients

1¾ cups all-purpose flour 

2 cups sugar 

¾ cups good cocoa powder, such as Valrhona 

2 teaspoons baking soda 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1 teaspoon kosher salt 

1 cup buttermilk, shaken 

½ cup vegetable oil 

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee 

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (recipe follows) 

Procedure 

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans (for cupcakes, see note). Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans. 

Step 2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. 

Step 3. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ones. 

Step 4. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 

Step 5. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. 

Note: For cupcakes, reduce bake time to 25-30 minutes. 

Step 6. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. (Not to worry; the top will sink a little in the center.) 

Turns out we have two 9" rounds, but only one 8" round. There were notes saying not to use 9", as the layers become too thin. I really wanted to follow this to the letter. So I had to bake one at a time. What a time suck. 

This would ultimately be a downfall for me. I should have done 9" at the same time. I'm not good at eyeballing equal amounts of batter 45 minutes apart. The second one would have more, it would cook over the edges and into the oven itself. ...the second layer ultimately breaking cracking in two. 

.....but honestly, you make it the lower layer and add enough icing and who the fuck is gonna know???

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (frosts one cake, or 12 cupcakes) 

6 ounces good semisweet chocolate, such as Valrhona (see note) 

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 

1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature 

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1¼ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar 

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules, such as Nescafe 

Procedure

Step 7. Chop the chocolate and place it in a heatproof bowl over a pan over simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature. 

This worked well. I have tried a double boiler in the past with bad results. I was ok with this. 

Step 8. Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. 

Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. 

Step 9. Dissolve the coffee in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don’t whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake. 

Step 10. Place one layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread a thin layer of buttercream on the top only. Place the second layer on top, flat side up, and spread the frosting evenly first on the sides and then on the top of the cake. Cut in wedges and serve at room temperature.

If you go by Ina's recipe she has this all in two steps: the cake and frosting. It's all accurate, but seemingly easier sounding her way. I am more realistic on what a 'step' is. 

Blobby is winning no cake decorating contests any time soon ever. It looks homemade, because it is homemade. 

Note: I use Valrhona Le Noir 56% Cacao Semisweet Chocolate. You can use also use a good bittersweet chocolate but don’t use chocolate chips because they have stabilizers in them.

Ina is def fancier than I. And my store doesn't carry Valrhona in bar or powder form. So, I'm already off to a deficit. And my buttermilk was low fat. The price you get for shopping on a Sunday. 

710 cut the cake, right at a crack / patch place. So the slice above isn't the best shot. Still, it's about taste - and for that, we were on point. 

The coffee in the cake and the icing came through. I know Ina says it just enhances the chocolate, and it does, but it's not like that coffee flavouring just goes away. While I don't drink coffee, I'm fine with the flavouring. 710 loved it. 

The cake was light and moist, it was good cake to icing ratio. Taste was an A. Look I'll give it a B-. 

While in the last few years I have done more baking, but this was probably the most intricate. It worked and it didn't.  I just needed to pay more attention to my surroundings and my gear.