Chocolicious Two-Layer Cake

This is a chocolate lovers dream!  We made this cake for Thanksgiving last year and it was the only thing that could tame the chocolate lovers palette!  It uses chocolate in proceed and unprocessed forms and combines rich, moist chocolate cake in two layers with decadent chocolate icing that will send the chocoholic soaring to new heights!

Needs TLC
This is not a quick mix cake.  It requires a watchful eye to make sure that you don’t over heat the chocolate and that you mix ingredients at the right time.  This goes for the cake and the frosting.  The yield is a wonderfully textured classic two-layer cake.

Ribbons Of Delight
The mattering method of this recipe is called “ribboning.”  It involves whipping eggs with sugar until they double in volume, then adding the butter, dry ingredients and milk.  It refers to the ribbon-like strands that form when whipping the eggs and sugar.  This often the first step in making sponge cake as well.

Chocolate Lover’s Dream!
This makes for a cake that will satisfy even the most rabid chocoholic.  It features melted chocolate mixed with cocoa in the cake and melted chocolate in the frosting.  Wow!  You can easily vary this recipe with the type of chocolate you use, at least in terms of dark vs. light chocolate.  If this is too much chocolate for you (and it was right on the borderline for us) then just make your favorite butter cream or cream cheese icing to compliment the delicious moist chocolate cake.

The Recipe:
Serves 10-12

Cake Ingredients:
12 tbsp. (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft, plus extra for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups (8.75 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the pans
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup (.75 oz.) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 cup hot water
1 3/4 cups (12.25 oz.) sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks

Frosting Ingredients:
16 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 tsp. unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. corn syrup
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1.4 cups cold heavy cream

Instructions:

Cake
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 250 degrees.
2. Grease two 9-inch round by 2-inch high cake pans with softened butter, dust the pans with flour and knock out excess.
3. Combine the chocolate, cocoa powder and hot water in a medium heatproof (glass or ceramic, but not metal!) bowl.
4. Set bowl over a saucepan containing 1-inch of simmering water and stir with a heatproof rubber spatula until the chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes.
5. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar to the chocolate mixture and stir until thick and glossy, 1-2 minutes.  Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside to cool.
6. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
7. Combine the buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.
8. in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs and yolks on medium-low speed until combined, about 10 seconds.
9. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups of sugar, increase the speed to high, and whisk until fluffy and lightened in color, 2-3 minutes.
10. Replace the whisk with the paddle attachment. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the egg-sugar mixture and mix on medium speed  until thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds.
11. Repeat using half of the remaining flour mixture and all of the remaining buttermilk mixture.
12. scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining flour mixture. Mix at medium-low speed until the batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds.
13. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the batter once or twice with a rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour.
14. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans; smooth the batter to the edges of the pan with a spatula.
15. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 25-30 minutes.
16. Cool the cakes in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack.
17. Cool the cakes to room temperature before frosting, 45-60 minutes.

Frosting
1. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan containing 1-inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted.
3. Increase to heat to medium, add sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and salt and stir with a heatproof spatula until the sugar is dissolved, 4-5 minutes.
4. Add the melted chocolate, butter mixture and cream to the clean bowl of a standing mixer and stir to thoroughly combine.
5. Place the mixer bowl over an ice bath and stir the mixture constantly with a rubber spatula until the frosting is thick and just beginning to harden against the sides of the bowl, 1-2 minutes. (The frosting should be at 70 degrees.)
6. Place the bowl on a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
7. Stir with a rubber spatula until completely smooth.

To Frost The Cake
1. Spread a dab of frosting in the center of a cardboard round cut slightly larger than the cake.
2. Place one cake layer on the cardboard round.
3. Spread 1 1/2 cups of the frosting evenly across the top of the cake with a spatula.
4. Place second cake layer on top, then spread the remaining frosting evenly over the top and sides of the cake.

5. Cut into slices and serve.

Enjoy!

- The Fortunate Foodie