Sweet Saturday

• On Saturdays, I will try to upload a dessert recipe :)--Everyone should celebrate the end of another work week. Note: you can also slice the cake layers in half to make a four layer cake. I had to make this cake relatively quick the last time I made it, so the ganache ran down a littler more than I would have liked if I was taking my time and it is not a 4 layer cake but just a regular 2 layer 

Chocolate Cake, Coconut buttercream frosting, Chocolate Ganache

Cake

1 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour
2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
3/4 cup Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla (Again, I use 1/2 tsp of Madagascar double bourbon vanilla)
3 large Eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups Buttermilk

Frosting
Scant 1/2 cup Flour
1 1/2 cups Milk
2 tsp. Imitation Coconut Extract (I like coconut to give it a light taste, almond or vanilla would also be fine--i'd recommend using imitation vanilla because its clear, so as to prevent the color of the icing from becoming any more yellow)
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar 

Chocolate Ganache

4 oz. chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, or a mix

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract (1/8 tsp of Madagascar double bourbon)

Directions

1)     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8-inch cake pans with butter and flour.

2)     Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt. Set aside.

3)     In the bowl of a standing mixer, or a large bowl using a hand held mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. About 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated and scraping down sides as needed.

4)     With mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, mix until incorporated. Then add 1/2 of the buttermilk, mix until incorporated. Repeat until the last 1/3 of flour has been used. Mix until incorporated and then beat for 1 additional minute.

5)      Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the sides begin to pull away from the edges. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto the racks and allow the cakes to cool completely. 

•       You may cut the layers in half later, once they have cooled completely, if you desire 4 thin layers instead

Frosting

1)     While the cakes are baking, prepare the frosting. In a saucepan, whisk together the flour and milk and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens (I would compare it to mashed potatoes). It is very important to whisk continuously so clumps don’t form. This took me about 4-5 minutes, but it’s best to go by texture.

2)     Set milk mixture aside in an ice bath* and allow to cool completely.

3)      In a medium bowl, (or bowl of a standing mixture fitted with a whisk--because that takes substantially less time) beat together the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat for 1 minute or so.

4)     Add the cooled milk mixture and beat on high for 3-5 minutes. If it looks separated, keep beating.

5)     The original recipe calls for dividing the layers into four layers instead of two and frosting between—I’ve done it both ways, you just have a bit of extra frosting left over if you only do the two original layers. Frost the cake, I then left the cake in the refrigerator overnight so the frosting was solid and less likely to run with the ganache

*Ice Bath--for those of you that are unaware, an ice bath is really simple. I use a large 9x12 glass dish and fill it 1/2 with ice and a little bit of water (so the ice is sitting in a puddle essentially), then you put the bowl with the mixture in the ice. That's it :)

Chocolate Ganache

1. Chop chocolate and place in a medium sized bowl.  Bring heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan.  Pour cream over chopped chocolate in bowl.  Add corn syrup.  Let sit for 3 minutes.  Whisk to incorporate until chocolate is silky smooth with no streaks.  Add vanilla and stir with a spoon.
2. Place in refrigerator for about  30 minutes stirring once halfway and again after 30 minutes.----I left it in a little bit longer, I’d actually recommend 45 mins to an hour, so it’s a little thicker for a better drip down effect.
3. Pour the Ganache into the center of the cake and using a rubber spatula, push it slowly to the sides. Let it drip off the sides onto the plate for the dripped-chocolate look and place in fridge or freezer until it stops dripping
4. I also sprinkled powdered sugar on top for presentation.