Dark Chocolate Celebration Cake
Like I always say no celebration is complete without a cake. I think I have carried this fantasy of cakes from childhood, my parents never fail to get a cake for any of our birthdays. The tradition still continues, having said that I had no qualms of whipping up a cake for the occasion of my second blog Birthday/ Anniversary. Sure is a milestone, I am the types who will start a hobby and get bored with it in no time, little did I know that this hobby of blogging will turn into a passion that I cannot do without. If my family is reading this they would know exactly what this means :D. I can talk endlessly about blogging, my struggles, challenges and so on. But I do feel overwhelmed in this huge web of bloggers who have inspired, motivated and challenged me time and again. Every comment, email and appreciation have made me come this far. Its little things as this that I hold truly special and memorable in these two years and the years to come. Blogging has encouraged me to read, write, talk, share, cook, click, learn, value, train me in many ways than I have never imagined. I want to take a moment to thank God for without Him I am nothing. I must mention my family who have been my biggest support, my husband who is my taste tester, motivationalist and critic to all my work. He has even spoilt me with a new DSLR a month ago. I am blessed to have a partner in crime who is also a very big support to my passions and interest, what I truly love is his constant encouragement and involvement. My mother who has gone ends to get me props when I had least expected her to, my parents who gifted me an oven when we moved to India and also my mom who had passed me tons of her skilled recipes for me to share with you all. Lastly but never the least my heartfelt gratitude to all my readers, fellow bloggers, friends and extended family for all your support without which it is hard to imagine.
Best Chocolate layer cake recipe
" All you need is love, but a little chocolate now and then won't hurt" ~ Anonymous
For the love of all things chocolate, I made this heavenly butterless chocolate cake that turned incredibly beautiful. It was moist, easy to cut and holds its shape well. I wanted to do a different frosting than the usual buttercream and went for Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting. The cake is mild in sweetness and the lovely flavour of the cream cheese just melts in your mouth. Trust me if you plan to surprise your family/ friends with a celebration cake then this is the one that you must try. Its a perfect layer cake that is so rich in flavours.
Chocolate Cream cheese frosting recipe
Best chocolate cake recipe with chocolate frosting
Chocolate Cake recipe
DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE | CHOCOLATE SPONGE RECIPE | CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE
Recipe - here
Prep time - 10 mins
Bake time - 30-35 mins
Cool time - 1 hour
Makes - two 8" cakes or 1 large 9" cake
Serves - 8-10 people
Storage - in air tight container in refrigerator upto 5 days
Ingredients
Plain four/ All purpose flour/ Maida - 1 and 3/4 cup
Sugar - 2 cups, use granulated/ fine castor sugar
Cocoa powder - 3/4 cup (unsweetened I used Hintz)
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Buttermilk - 1 cup (refer notes)
Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup (I used refined)
Vanilla essence / extract - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Hot coffee - 1 cup (1 cup water + 1 tsp instant coffee powder)
Method
1. Grease and line two 8" cake pans / one 9" cake pan with parchment paper, set aside. Pre-heat oven to 180C/ 350 F for 10 mins.
2. In a bowl add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar powdered/ castor sugar and cocoa powder.
3. Using a sieve mix all the dry ingredients to remove any lumps and to combine the ingredients together. This also adds air to them.
4. In a bowl add all the wet ingredients - buttermilk, oil, vanilla, eggs and coffee, beat together until combined.
5. Now pour the wet ingredients to dry and mix well until just combined and there is no traces of flour left in the cake batter.
6. Pour the batter to the cake pans and bake for 30-35 mins until a toothpick inserted in centre comes clean.
7. If your tins don't fit into the oven in a single session, you can bake one at a time.
8. Once baked , remove from oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 mins. Later run the knife to the sides of the pan and remove the cake to the cooling rack. You can remove the parchment too.
9. Once the cake is completely cooled, place in a refrigerator to chill them so that the frosting can be done neatly.
CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING RECIPE | CHOCOLATE FROSTING USING COCOA POWDER AND CREAM CHEESE
Recipe - Own
Prep time - 5 mins
Ingredients
Cream cheese - 1 tub (250 gms)
Unsalted Butter - 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (at room temperature)
Icing sugar - 1 and 1/2 cup
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Method
1. In a bowl cream together the butter and cream cheese until combined. You can use a hand held whisk/ electric whisk.
2. Now add in the vanilla and icing sugar 3 tbsp at a time and combine until the whole batch of icing sugar is used up. The key is less mixing.
3. You can chill the frosting for 15 -30 minutes before frosting and always frost on a cold cake.
ASSEMBLY
Chocolate Sponge - two 8" cakes
Chocolate cream cheese - as required
A knife to layer the cake
Chocolate barks & candy to decorate
Steps
1. Cup the cake domes and layer the cake into two. I did not layer the cake much.
2. Spread the a generous dollop of the frosting between the layers and spread with an off set spatula.
3. Now frost the sides and top with more generous frosting.
4. Refrigerate the cake for 10 minutes to set.
5. You can add more frosting if you like and then add the chocolate barks / shavings to decorate.
6. Keep chilled for another 20-30 minutes until the frosting sets.
7. Before cutting take it from the refrigerator and cut into slices and enjoy :-)
Butterless Chocolate Cake Recipe
COOKS WISDOM
Tip 1
1. I did not use an electric whisk to make the batter/ frosting, used my good old hands for a workout :P
Tip 2
2. To make buttermilk, just combine 1 cup milk and 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice, set aside to curddle naturally for 5 mins. Use as per instructions.
Tip 3
3. Its always great to sieve the dry ingredients 2 times to combine properly, this adds air to them making easy miking and the batter to be lump free.
Tip 4
4. Use only room temprature eggs, buttermilk, butter and cream cheese. Plan ahead and keep them outside the referegirator 30min- 1 hr prior to doing the cake.
Tip 5
5. This recipes makes 2 medium sized 8" cakes and also you can layer them making it a 4 layer cake.
Tip 6
6. Do not oven the oven door while the cake is baking as it can cause cracks on the surface of the cake.
Tip 7
7. This cake is easy to make even if you are a beginner. A great snack cake mildly sweet as for the sponge.
THERE IS AN EVENT & GIVEAWAY LIVE ON MY BLOG FOR THIS SPECIAL SECOND BLOG ANNIVERSARY KINDLY CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW. ANYONE CAN PARTICIPATE AND WIN EXCITING PRIZES.
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CHECK OUT MY SPECIALITY CAKES BELOW
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