Big City, Little Kitchen

I get excited, selfishly, when birthdays come around; it means that I get to create a towering, festive, frosting-laden confection. My roommate, who just turned 25, is not a fruit-crumble kind of girl; for her, the more ridiculously chocolate, the better. As such, I figured, go big or go home: it had to be a double-chocolate cake. Three layers of dark, not-super-sweet chocolate cake are sandwiched with rich white chocolate frosting, and crowned with velvety chocolate curls. The coffee in the batter seems to temper the sugar and chocolate, and is a great counterpoint to the explicit sweetness of the frosting–beware, it’s easy to eat more than your share. To be honest, I’ve been having this cake for breakfast and dinner for the past three days!

Cake (from The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook):

• 1/2 cup unsweetened, good-quality cocoa powder (I like Vahlrona)
• 3/4 cup brewed coffee
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Frosting (a BCLK original recipe):

• 6 ounces white chocolate
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 10-ounce box plus 2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
• block of dark chocolate (for shaving)

Makes 1 3-layer, 9-inch cake, or 24 cupcakes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 3 9-inch pans.

Whisk together the cocoa powder, coffee, water, and vanilla; set aside.

In another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a third bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and lighter-colored, then add eggs one at a time, to incorporate air and induce fluffiness in batter. When all are incorporated, add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the coffee mixture. Fold in the melted chocolate. Spread 1/3 of the batter into each pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until inserted cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pans for 15 minutes, then cool completely on baking rack.

For frosting: begin by melting butter and white chocolate in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. When melted, remove pan from heat whisk quickly to combine butter and white chocolate (it will be seem unwilling to combine, but persevere) until mixture is thick. Let cool while sifting sugar (see below).

Sift the box of confectioner’s sugar into large bowl (or pulse in food processor, which I find much easier), and add butter-white chocolate mixture. Beat on medium until combined, adding cream one tablespoon at a time to create a thinner (but not runny) consistency. Sift remaining 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar, adding to frosting mixture 1/2 cup at a time, until reaching desired consistency–very thick, but spreadable and without lumps.

Trim the cooled cake layers to remove their raised tops. Place a layer onto cake stand or plate; dollop about 1/4 of the frosting into middle, and spread outward, stopping short of the edges. Place the second layer on top, pressing down lightly, and add another 1/4 of the frosting, applying as before. Place third layer on top and top with a little more than 1/2 of the remaining frosting, spreading across; use remainer of frosting to coat sides.

Run a vegetable peeler along the edges of room-temperature chocolate block to create long, thin curls. If you prefer the look of shorter, straight shards, refridgerate the chocolate. Garnish with chocolate curls until desired coverage is reached, then present the finished project, triumpantly.