Sunday, August 8, 2010

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake with Glossy Chocolate Icing



I have mixed feelings about this cake.  It is indeed delicious.  It's a dark chocolate cake and it's moist and dense without being too sweet.  I was excited about making this icing. I have always wanted to find a chocolate icing recipe that resulted in a silky smooth glossy icing. This one sounded like a hit.  It was really tasty but my icing never fully thickened up.  I have no idea where I went wrong.   I followed the recipe exactly but the final consistency was a thick ganche like texture - even after sitting in the fridge all night.  I used it anyway and as you can see from the photos, it really didn't stay put very well. The sides of the cake kind of sagged. 
The photos show little tiny bumps in the icing but for some reason, they were not evident in your mouth.  I guess that was the cocoa powder.  Maybe I should have sifted it first.  But anyway, this cake is delicious and easy to make.  There are surprisingly no eggs in the recipe.  I thought that was kind of strange but it worked.  If you like a sweeter milk chocolate cake, then you won't care for the darkness of this cake. (I personally like a sweeter cake myself) The icing really makes it dark.  It's a good basic chocolate cake recipe and if you are able to make the icing work, then this recipe would be an awesome one!











Chocolate Cake

Cuisine at Home


Whisk Together:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 t. baking soda

1 t. table salt



Combine; Add:

2 cups hot water

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 T. white vinegar

1 T. instant coffee granules

1 T. vanilla extract



Preheat oven to 350. Spray two 8" round cake pans with nonstick spray.



Whisk dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

Combine water, oil, vinegar, instant coffee, and vanilla in a large measuring cup. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined. Divide batter among pans, then bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Cool cakes for 15 minutes on a rack, then invert them onto the rack.


Glossy Chocolate Frosting


Makes: 4 Cups



Melt:

1 stick (8 T.) unsalted butter



Stir in:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

Pinch salt



Combine; Gradually Add:

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup sour cream

1 t. instant coffee granules



Off Heat, Add:

2 t. vanilla extract



Melt butter in a large saucepan.

Stir in sugar, cocoa, and salt.

Combine cream, sour cream, and instant coffee in a large measuring cup, mixing until smooth. Gradually add cream mixture to chocolate until blended. Cook until sugar dissolves, and mixture is smooth and hot to the touch. Do not boil.

Off heat, add vanilla. Cool icing at room temperature until spreadable, about 3 hours. Frost cake.

6 comments:

~ Chef Louise said...

I looked at that recipe, it seemed a little weird for icing... ganache would have worked better. I love that first pic- look at you with your fancy photos... good job, looks great!

Emma said...

The icing is a little weird, but completely delicious! The photos are indeed fab, that is what drew me in. :)

lauren Smith said...

The cake is delicious!
I made it with gluten free flour for some 'gluten free friends', which of course ended up a little crumbly and sagged in the middle because of GF, but tasted just divine. May have to up the baking soda or add an egg next time to compensate for the sag.

I just used warm cream, a dash of melted butter and icing sugar & cocoa powder for the icing, stirred it together and poured it over.

yummm

Online T.v Channels said...

Oh...this is what we call our Wacky cake. However ours does not call for coffee...BRILLIANT. It is so moist we usually don't frost it but I found a glaze that, again, is much like yours and didn't overwhelm the non-frosting lovers in the house.

cindiperez said...

This cake looks so good and moist. With gooey frosting..I'm trying it!
I just made a cake but the frosting dried up hard and matte looking.

susan hamilton said...

I always make a butter cream icing and it holds it shape. Just lots of butter, icing sugar and a dab of cream or milk. I also put mayonaise in my chocolate cakes. You could substitute that for the oil. Mayonaise chocolate cake wins prizes.