his
beautiful chocolate cake is the one to make to help celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and other special
occasions. Everyone seems to love its two layers of moist and tender chocolate butter
cake sandwiched together and frosted with a satiny smooth chocolate butter frosting. What
makes this chocolate cake unique is that we use both unsweetened chocolate and
unsweetened cocoa powder to achieve its rich chocolate flavor and color.
Unsweetened
chocolate is also known as baking, plain or bitter chocolate. This
is chocolate in its rawest form and is known by professionals as 'chocolate
liquor'. This means that unsweetened chocolate is just ground cocoa nibs that
have been refined and
contain between 50-55% cocoa butter (cocao fat). It contains no sugar so it has a strong, bitter taste that is used in
cooking and baking but is never eaten out of hand. When choosing any chocolate,
always look for one that has a lovely shiny finish (a sign that the chocolate
was cooked at the right temperature for the right amount of time) and one that
has that wonderful 'snap' when you break it into pieces. It should also have a
pleasant 'chocolately' smell. Scharffen Berger has a very nice unsweetened
chocolate that contains 99% cacao that you can find it in most specialty food
stores. But you can also use the unsweetened chocolate that is found in most
grocery stores. We are also using unsweetened (natural) cocoa powder (not Dutch
processed) in this recipe which is made from chocolate liquor that has been
pressed to remove three quarters of its cocoa butter. The remaining cocoa solids
are processed to make fine unsweetened cocoa powder. It has an intense bitter
flavor that makes it well suited for use in chocolate cakes. Popular brands are
Hershey's, Ghirardelli, Pernigotti, and Scharffen Berger. When adding the cocoa
powder to the cake batter, we first need to dissolve it in boiling water and
this is done to bring out its full flavor. You may also notice that this
recipe
contains a little extra leavening (baking powder and soda) and this is to counteract
the drying and strengthening affect cocoa powder has when used in batters.
Once the cake
layers have been baked and completely cooled, we are going to frost the cake
with a delicious chocolate butter frosting. Again, we are using unsweetened
chocolate and this, along with unsalted butter, milk, vanilla extract, and
confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, makes a smooth and buttery chocolate
frosting that contrasts nicely with the deep chocolate colored cake. Garnishing
the top of the cake is always an important part of presentation and since
berries always look beautiful I have used a medley of blackberries, raspberries,
strawberries and kiwi fruit. Another idea would be to pile the center of the
cake with shaved or grated white or dark chocolate.
Chocolate Cake: Preheat
oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter,
or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray, and line with parchment paper, two - 9 x 2 inch
deep (23 x 5 cm)
round baking pans. Set aside.
In a
stainless steel or heatproof bowl place the chopped unsweetened chocolate and cocoa powder. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate and
cocoa powder and stir until they have
melted. Set aside to cool while you make the batter.
In a
separate bowl, whisk to combine, the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and
salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of
your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter. Gradually
add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is fluffy (this will take
about 3-5 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each
addition. Add the vanilla extract and melted chocolate mixture and beat to
combine.
Add the
milk and flour mixtures in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour
mixture. Beat only until the ingredients are incorporated.
Divide the
batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the
tops. Bake for about 35 - 40 minutes or until a toothpick
inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly
pressed. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10
minutes. Butter or lightly spray a wire rack with Pam before
inverting the cakes onto the rack to prevent the cakes from sticking. Cool the
cakes completely before frosting.
Frosting:
Melt the chopped chocolate in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat
and let cool. Then place the melted chocolate, milk, confectioners sugar, salt,
and vanilla extract in the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle
attachment. (Alternatively, you can use a hand mixer.) Add the pieces of
softened butter and beat on low speed for about 2 minutes. When the frosting
starts to come together increase the speed to medium and beat for about 2 to 3
minutes or until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber
spatula. Increase the speed to high and beat the frosting for 1 - 2 minutes more
or until it is of spreading consistency. If necessary, add more milk or sugar.
To Assemble: Place
one layer of cake, top side down, on your serving plate and cover with a layer
of frosting. Then place the second layer of cake, top side down, onto the first
cake layer and then frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining
frosting. Can garnish with fresh fruit or shaved chocolate.
Serves 8 - 10
people.
Sources:
Stern, Bonnie. 'Desserts'.
Random House of Canada Limited. Toronto: 1988.
Yockelson, Lisa. 'Chocolate'.
John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New Jersey: 2005.
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