Post by Loupy on Mar 10, 2016 23:36:25 GMT -7
Dark Fudge Cake with Salted Graham Buttercream
From: Chelsea @ www.wholebiteblog.com/
Cake adapted from Magnolia Bakery
This cake is inspired by that most blessed union of chocolate and graham crackers and it is INSANE. (side note, you have no idea how many words I make all caps and then delete and change back to normal because I don't want to seem like a crazy person that gets way too excited about food. but this is justified because this cake is INSANE.) It's layers of super rich, fudgy chocolate cake paired with a graham cracker buttercream that has the toasty, honey-ish flavor of graham crackers offset by a generous bit of sea salt to keep the whole thing in check.
Makes a 3 layer 8" cake or 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cake:
1 3/4 cup flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp. vanilla
3/4 cup very hot, very strong coffee
For the buttercream:
1 lb. unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup crushed graham crackers (you want them as close to powder as possible, so I find it's fastest to blitz them in a food processor)
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
Line the bottoms of 3 8" cake pans with circles of parchment paper.
Butter and flour the pans or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Whisk to break up any clumps.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, oil and vanilla until combined.
Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture and whisk until completely smooth.
Pour in coffee and whisk until combined.
Divide batter between the 3 prepared cake pans.
Bake 25-30 minutes until set in the center and a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow cakes to cool in pans for 30 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.
To make the buttercream, beat butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until soft.
Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl after each addition.
Beat in vanilla and salt until smooth.
Add graham crumbs and beat until fully combined.
Once the cake layers have cooled completely, assemble the cake.
Level the cake layers and spread the bottom layer with a coat of frosting.
I like to use a little more than 1/4 cup between each layer.
Top with the next layer and add another layer or frosting.
Top with the final layer and use the remaining frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake.
Sprinkle the top with extra graham crumbs, if desired.
Note: The amount of salt in the buttercream below is definitely enough to notice, and get that sweet/salty contrast I love so much, but it's also not enough to really ruffle any feathers. Taste it as you go and, if you like a little more salt, add more. Or, if sweet/salty isn't really you're thing, just start with a pinch. If I had been making this just for me I would have gone full salt mine, but I refrained.
From: Chelsea @ www.wholebiteblog.com/
Cake adapted from Magnolia Bakery
This cake is inspired by that most blessed union of chocolate and graham crackers and it is INSANE. (side note, you have no idea how many words I make all caps and then delete and change back to normal because I don't want to seem like a crazy person that gets way too excited about food. but this is justified because this cake is INSANE.) It's layers of super rich, fudgy chocolate cake paired with a graham cracker buttercream that has the toasty, honey-ish flavor of graham crackers offset by a generous bit of sea salt to keep the whole thing in check.
Makes a 3 layer 8" cake or 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cake:
1 3/4 cup flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp. vanilla
3/4 cup very hot, very strong coffee
For the buttercream:
1 lb. unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup crushed graham crackers (you want them as close to powder as possible, so I find it's fastest to blitz them in a food processor)
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
Line the bottoms of 3 8" cake pans with circles of parchment paper.
Butter and flour the pans or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Whisk to break up any clumps.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, oil and vanilla until combined.
Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture and whisk until completely smooth.
Pour in coffee and whisk until combined.
Divide batter between the 3 prepared cake pans.
Bake 25-30 minutes until set in the center and a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow cakes to cool in pans for 30 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.
To make the buttercream, beat butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until soft.
Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl after each addition.
Beat in vanilla and salt until smooth.
Add graham crumbs and beat until fully combined.
Once the cake layers have cooled completely, assemble the cake.
Level the cake layers and spread the bottom layer with a coat of frosting.
I like to use a little more than 1/4 cup between each layer.
Top with the next layer and add another layer or frosting.
Top with the final layer and use the remaining frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake.
Sprinkle the top with extra graham crumbs, if desired.
Note: The amount of salt in the buttercream below is definitely enough to notice, and get that sweet/salty contrast I love so much, but it's also not enough to really ruffle any feathers. Taste it as you go and, if you like a little more salt, add more. Or, if sweet/salty isn't really you're thing, just start with a pinch. If I had been making this just for me I would have gone full salt mine, but I refrained.
