Happy birthday to us! To kick off our anniversary festivities we transformed our four best-ever cakes into stunning (but easy) works of art. Warning: You might start making up reasons to celebrate!
Prep 1 hour
Total 1 hour 35 min
Makes 12 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 cups
- all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp
- baking soda
- 1 tsp
- baking powder
- 1/2 tsp
- salt
- 3/4 cup
- unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup
- granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup
- lightly packed brown sugar
- 2
- eggs
- 2 tsp
- vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups
- buttermilk
FROSTING
- 1 cup
- unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 225-g pkg
- unsweetened chocolate, chopped and melted
- 1 tbsp
- vanilla
- 1/4 tsp
- salt
- 6 cups
- icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 cup
- milk
- 1/4 cup
- espresso, or strong coffee
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 2 8-in. round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment.
- Sift flour with cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt into a medium bowl. Beat butter with sugars in a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, 3 min. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in 2 tsp vanilla. Reduce speed and beat in one-third of flour mixture, then add half the buttermilk. Repeat additions, ending with flour mixture. Divide batter evenly between pans and smooth tops.
- Bake in centre of oven until a cake tester inserted in centre of cakes comes out clean, 35 to 40 min. Cool in pans on a rack for 10 min, then turn out onto rack. Remove parchment. Cool completely, about 30 min.
- Beat 1 cup butter in a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, until creamy, 1 min. Add melted chocolate, 1 tbsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp salt and 1 cup icing sugar. Beat for 1 min. Reduce speed and add remaining sugar in 3 parts, alternating with milk and coffee, ending with sugar. Beat on medium-high, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until fluffy and smooth, 1 to 2 min.
- Assemble by slicing each cake in half horizontally. Set 1 layer on a cake stand, cut-side down. Lay short strips of parchment under edges of cake to protect the stand. Spread cake with 3/4 cup icing, right to edge. Top with another cake layer, cut-side down. Repeat icing and layering with remaining cake layers. Then spread remaining icing on top and around sides of cake, smoothing surface. Refrigerate until icing is firm, about 1 hour. Remove parchment strips. Top with unsprayed edible flowers if desired.
Nutrition
- Calories 822
- Protein 8 g
- Carbohydrates 122 g
- Fat 39 g
- Fibre 5 g
- Sodium 386 mg
