Directions
My mom had a birthday yesterday so I busted out the flour sifter and the cake pans to make something to give her year a sweet start. My 5-year-old assisted me - he really loves to bake.
I chose this recipe from My Kitchen Year by Ruth Reichl - a book I enthusiastically devoured about two years ago and still return to for recipe inspiration.
It features all the usual lovely suspects -- cocoa powder, butter, flour, sugar, eggs... But the reviews I read on Kim Severson's post about it in the NY Times Cooking section were so devotional that I had to try it.
After having some struggles in the past with the layers getting stuck in the pan, I followed Ruth's instructions of using both parchment paper circles AND a cake release and it was smooth sailing - those babies slid right out into my eager midwife's hands.
I made two changes to Ruth's recipe.
1. I cut the recipe in half to fit two 9-inch cake pans since my family is pretty small and I did not need enough cake to feed 20+ people.
2. I increased the frosting amounts a bit as I found that half of Ruth's originals led to a bit less frosting than I needed to easily cover a 9-inch layer cake and I'd hate for you to be similarly caught out. But you can find her original recipe on her site in case it's helpful.
It's delicious! Hope you enjoy it. Also, it freezes well, cut into individual slices and wrapped well against freezer burn... -- print recipe --Ruth Reichl's GIANT Chocolate Cake
Recipe is halved and adapted slightly from My Kitchen Year
Ingredients
For the cake:
* 3/4 cups boiling water
* 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
* Slightly less than 1/2 cup whole milk
* 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
* 1 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
* 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
* 3/4 cup cane sugar
* 3 large eggs (try to find pasture-raised - they're much better for everyone involved)
For the frosting:
* 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
* 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
* 3/4 cup whipped cream cheese
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of two 9-inch cake pans with circles of parchment paper (I just put the pans on top of the paper and trace the bottoms with a pencil, then cut them out with scissors) and butter the paper. Drop a little flour (or cocoa powder) in the pans and turn to coat all sides then tap out the excess - this is called a "cake release" and goes a long way to helping you get the cakes out of the pans in one piece once they're done baking.
2. Whisk together boiling water and cocoa until smooth. Then whisk in the milk and vanilla. Sift together the flour,baking soda, and salt.
If possible in a standing mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at a time,beating well after each addition. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture in 3 batches and the cocoa mixture in 2, alternating flour-cocoa-flour-cocoa-flour. The batter may look curdled.
3. Pour half of the batter into each pan and smooth the tops. Bake in the middle of the oven until a tester comes out clean and the cake begins to pull away from the pan, 25-30 minutes (mine was done at 25). Turn the cakes out onto a rack to cool completely.
4. Make the frosting: melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water then let it cool to room temperature. Beat together the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy (I had regular cream cheese so I just beat it with my electric beaters for a while before adding the butter to it). Add the cooled chocolate and the remaining ingredients and beat until thoroughly combined. Assemble cake only when the cake layers have cooled completely.
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Chocolate Orange Beet Cake Easy, Moist, Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes Chocolate Sour Cream Layer Cake My mom had a birthday yesterday so I busted out the flour sifter and the cake pans to make something to give her year a sweet start. My 5-year-old assisted me - he really loves to bake.
I chose this recipe from My Kitchen Year by Ruth Reichl - a book I enthusiastically devoured about two years ago and still return to for recipe inspiration.
It features all the usual lovely suspects -- cocoa powder, butter, flour, sugar, eggs... But the reviews I read on Kim Severson's post about it in the NY Times Cooking section were so devotional that I had to try it.
After having some struggles in the past with the layers getting stuck in the pan, I followed Ruth's instructions of using both parchment paper circles AND a cake release and it was smooth sailing - those babies slid right out into my eager midwife's hands.
I made two changes to Ruth's recipe.
1. I cut the recipe in half to fit two 9-inch cake pans since my family is pretty small and I did not need enough cake to feed 20+ people.
2. I increased the frosting amounts a bit as I found that half of Ruth's originals led to a bit less frosting than I needed to easily cover a 9-inch layer cake and I'd hate for you to be similarly caught out. But you can find her original recipe on her site in case it's helpful.
It's delicious! Hope you enjoy it. Also, it freezes well, cut into individual slices and wrapped well against freezer burn... -- print recipe --Ruth Reichl's GIANT Chocolate Cake
Recipe is halved and adapted slightly from My Kitchen Year
Ingredients
For the cake:
* 3/4 cups boiling water
* 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
* Slightly less than 1/2 cup whole milk
* 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
* 1 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
* 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
* 3/4 cup cane sugar
* 3 large eggs (try to find pasture-raised - they're much better for everyone involved)
For the frosting:
* 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
* 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
* 3/4 cup whipped cream cheese
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of two 9-inch cake pans with circles of parchment paper (I just put the pans on top of the paper and trace the bottoms with a pencil, then cut them out with scissors) and butter the paper. Drop a little flour (or cocoa powder) in the pans and turn to coat all sides then tap out the excess - this is called a "cake release" and goes a long way to helping you get the cakes out of the pans in one piece once they're done baking.
2. Whisk together boiling water and cocoa until smooth. Then whisk in the milk and vanilla. Sift together the flour,baking soda, and salt.
If possible in a standing mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at a time,beating well after each addition. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture in 3 batches and the cocoa mixture in 2, alternating flour-cocoa-flour-cocoa-flour. The batter may look curdled.
3. Pour half of the batter into each pan and smooth the tops. Bake in the middle of the oven until a tester comes out clean and the cake begins to pull away from the pan, 25-30 minutes (mine was done at 25). Turn the cakes out onto a rack to cool completely.
4. Make the frosting: melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water then let it cool to room temperature. Beat together the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy (I had regular cream cheese so I just beat it with my electric beaters for a while before adding the butter to it). Add the cooled chocolate and the remaining ingredients and beat until thoroughly combined. Assemble cake only when the cake layers have cooled completely.
You might also like:
Chocolate Orange Beet Cake Easy, Moist, Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes Chocolate Sour Cream Layer Cake
