Happy Chocolate Cake-with-Vanilla-Buttercream-and-Strawberries Birthday to Me!

This past Sunday was my birthday, and I celebrated in one of the most joyful ways I know how: I baked, and then shared my dessert with good friends.

Most people want to enjoy their favorite cake on their birthday, whether it be a basic vanilla with vanilla icing, a complex Italian specialty, a festive ice cream cake, and any other cake one can imagine. No matter what kind of bakery you frequent, you can find a birthday cake, or similar stand-in (for example: birthday tortes, birthday muffins, birthday pies). I also know a good number of individuals who prefer to bake their own favorite creation, whether it be a birthday dessert or a very special main meal, for their birthdays; I obviously find this to be the better option for me. In fact, cookbooks featuring only recipes for birthday cakes have been written (to be honest, my roommate owns one, and it sits proudly on our cookbook shelf), and while I did not pull my birthday cake recipe from this volume, it is filled with imaginative concoctions, all of which are incomplete without candles on top. The recipe, from Epicurious, is not terribly complex, but like any layer cake, it is time consuming, and special attention is required if it is to turn out well.


My dream birthday cake was chocolate with vanilla buttercream, and to my joy, it has became a delicious reality. I made it over the course of two days, making the cake a day before the birthday celebration, and letting it cool, then wrapping it in plastic wrap. The frosting, I made the morning of, and then I assembled the entire thing a few hours before we cut it. The cake was everything I wanted it to be: lusciously chocolatey, achingly sugary, and blissfully tasty: the perfect treat to look forward to once a year.

Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

From Epicurious.com

Ingredients:
1 cup boiling-hot water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Rounded 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
4 large eggs at room temperature for 30 minutes
4 cups vanilla buttercream

The Cake:
1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 (9- by 2-inch) round cake pans and line bottom of each with a round of wax paper. Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess. Whisk together hot water and cocoa powder in a bowl until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.
3. Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add flour and cocoa mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
4. Divide batter between cake pans, smoothing tops. Bake until a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean and edges of cake begin to pull away from sides of pans, 30 to 35 minutes total. Cool layers in pans on racks 10 minutes, then invert onto racks, removing wax paper, and cool completely.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients:
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons whipping cream

Directions:
With a hand mixer or stand, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

To assemble cake:
Put 1 cake layer, rounded side up, on a cake stand or platter and, using offset spatula, spread top with about 1 cup buttercream. Top with remaining cake layer, rounded side down, and frost side and top of cake with 2 cups buttercream.

Double-Fudge Chip Cake: Happy Birthday, indeed!

I realized today that May is a very birthday-heavy month as far as personal acquaintances go, and that before the month is out, I probably should check around just to make sure that I’m not missing anyone.

As I was thinking of all the birthdays popping up this month, I couldn’t help but wonder how each person would be celebrating. Sure, I know about the parties and the presents, but what I really want to know is what sort of treat the birthday boys and girls will be indulging in on their special day. Or instead, if they are somehow able to separate food and festivities, as I so clearly am unable to do.

My birthday isn’t swinging around until next month, so I’ll have to wait for my own celebratory delicacy, but the wonderful thing about being a self-proclaimed baker is that I can make something delicious for other people when it’s their special day, hopefully adding to their revelry (and perhaps sampling a little bit of the food-merriment, too).

While I was thinking about birthday cuisine, I remembered one particular cake that I once made for a special someone on his birthday, and the amazed reaction it received. I can’t recall the exact words that were used, but it boiled down to a very positive review of the cake and the effort it took to pull together.

This cake (not pictured) is from a Mrs. Fields cookbook that I’ve had for years, and I still take the book down from the shelf when I’m looking for a more distinctive dessert recipe. And the Double-Fudge Chip Cake is one of these selections; the name alone is quite striking. The procedure is slightly involved, and I know I was overwhelmed when I first read it through. But like any respectable cake, it is definitely worth the time and careful attention, especially when it’s given as a present on someone’s big day.

Also, this is a cake that just begs for creative decorations. I personally used Hershey kisses as a garnish.

Double-Fudge Chip Cake

Yield: One 9-inch layer cake

Cake:

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
2 ¼ c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 stick (½ c.) salted butter, softened
2 ¼ c. (packed) light brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. sour cream
1 c. boiling water

Frosting:

8 oz. unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
2 sticks (1 c.) unsalted butter, softened
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar
1 c. heavy cream
4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans.

2. Make the cake:
In a double boiler, melt the chocolate over hot, not simmering, water. Set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the brown sugar and then the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat at high speed for 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the melted chocolate.
Beat in portions of the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture; beat well after each addition.
Stir in the boiling water and pour the batter at once into the prepared pans. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the center springs back when touched lightly. Set the cake pans on a rack to cool for 10 minutes. Then invert the cakes onto the racks to cool completely.

3. Prepare the frosting:
In a double boiler, melt the chocolate with the butter. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl with an electric mixer, blend the confectioners’ sugar, cream, and vanilla until smooth. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and mix at low speed until blended. Place the frosting in the refrigerator until thick and firm yet still easy to spread, 20-30 minutes.

4. Assemble:
Place one cake layer upside down on a cake dish. Spread ¼ of the frosting on top and sprinkle with ½ cup of the chips. Add a second cake layer upside down and frost with another ¼ of the frosting and the remaining ½ cup of the chips. Add the top layer upside down and frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting.