Chocolate Buttercream Cake

Chocolate Buttercream Cake

Good chocolate cake may be the perfect dessert and this one does not disappoint, deserving to be a standard in every family recipe collection. It is the best plain chocolate frosted cake that I have ever eaten. The chocolate Italian buttercream frosting can be a bit of a challenge, especially in a hot kitchen but it is well, well worth the effort to master this skill. It really is the best chocolate frosting ever; so luscious and so, so silky smooth.

Originally Published March 7, 2008.

Chocolate Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup soured milk (add a tablespoon of lemon juice to sour the milk)
• 1 cup black coffee
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer for 2 minutes.

Pour into 2 greased and floured 9 inch cake pans, or one 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Combine and melt (but do not over heat) in a double boiler:

• 1 pound chocolate (at least 50% cocoa), chopped in small pieces
• ½ cup butter

Set aside to cool to room temperature

• 2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup water

Combine and bring to a boil. Continue to boil over medium heat without stirring until the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Meanwhile beat together to stiff peaks

• 6 egg whites at room temperature
• ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch salt

Slowly pour in the sugar syrup hitting the side of the bowl and not the beaters. Continue beating the frosting for 10-15 minutes until the meringue is completely cool. When completely cool, slowly begin to add, a few tablespoons at a time

• 2 cups softened unsalted butter

Beat until smooth after each addition.

Add the melted chocolate to the meringue mixture in about 4 additions and beat well after each addition. Continue beating until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. This may take 15 minutes or so and you may have to chill the frosting for several minutes before beating it again to get it to stiffen. Alternatively, you can place the frosting bowl in an ice bath while continuing to beat constantly until the icing stiffens sufficiently.

Split the cake layers in half, horizontally, making 4 layers in total. Fill layers with frosting and spread over the entire cake. Garnish with chocolate ganache or chocolate curls if desired.

Chocolate Buttercream Cake

Lemon Velvet Cake

Lemon Velvet Cake

It all started with me trying to develop the best Red Velvet Cake recipe I could.  It was such a sucess and I loved the moist, tender texture of that cake so much that I just had to try a White Velvet Cake and then an Orange Velvet Cake. Those turned out to be a couple of the most popular cake recipes ever on Rock Recipes so I couldn't stop there. Keeping the lemon lovers like me in mind, a luscious lemon version was inevitable. The creamy, tangy lemon buttercream frosting goes particularly well with this beautiful lemon cake too.

Am I done with Velvet Cake recipes yet? Maybe not, I have an idea that might work out for yet another version. Here's a clue...think pink. :) 

Lemon Velvet Cake

Recipe by Barry C. Parsons

Developed from an outstanding Red Velvet Cake recipe, this lemon cake is a perfectly moist and tender crumbed cake with a lemony buttercream frosting. An ideal birthday cake for the lemon lover in your life.

Prep time: Approximately 20 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Total time: Approximately 1 hour.
Yield: 12 -16 servings
Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening at room temperature
• 1 tsp good quality vanilla extract
• 2 tsp pure lemon extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• zest of two small or one large lemons, grated and finely chopped
• FOR THE FROSTING
• 8 cups icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 2 cups unsalted butter
• 1 tsp pure lemon extract
• 1 tsp minced lemon zest (optional) 
• aprox 4 tbsp milk

Directions

1. Grease and flour 2 nine inch round cake pans and line the bottom with 2 circles of parchment paper. Sift together both flours, baking soda. baking powder, salt and sugar, Set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the vegetable oil, shortening, vanilla and lemon extract. Beat well at high speed with whisk attachment until light and fluffy
3. Beat the eggs in one at a time.
4. Fold in the lemon zest.
5. Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk.
6. I always add dry ingredients in three divisions and liquid ingredients in 2 divisions. It is very important to begin and end the additions with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter. As soon as it has no lumps in the batter, pour into the two prepared 9 inch cake pans.
7. Bake at 325 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.
8. FOR THE FROSTING: mix together the icing sugar, lemon zest and butter until it becomes sort of crumbly.
9. Add the lemon extract and a little of the milk.
10. Beat until smooth and fluffy, adding only enough milk to bring the frosting to a creamy spreadable consistency.
11. Fill and frost the cake. Garnish with candied lemon zest if desired.
12. To make candied lemon zest, remove the zest with a sharp vegetable peeler in long strips, avoiding as much of the white pith as possible.
13. Bring one cup of water and one cup of sugar to a slow boil.
14. Add the pieces of lemon zest and boil for about 15 minutes. Drain the lemon zest on a wire rack.
15. When cool, cut them in strips and roll in fine sugar. 

For the other recipes in our Velvet Cakes Collection click the photo below.

Lemon Velvet Cake

The Ultimate Lemon Cake

The Ultimate Lemon Cake

With 5 different lemon components to this cake, it is not hard to see why I have dubbed it my ultimate lemon cake. I start with a homemade lemon scratch cake which gets brushed with some tangy lemon syrup, then filled with alternating layers of rich lemon curd and lemon buttercream frosting before being covered in more of the lemon frosting and finally garnished with homemade candied lemon zest. This is the perfect celebration cake for that lemon lover in your life.

Lemon Cake

Sift together and set aside:

• 2 3/4 cups cake flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Cream together until fluffy:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar

Add, one at a time, beating well after every addition;

• 4 eggs at room temperature

Beat in

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Fold in:

• zest of one large lemon, finely minced

Gently fold in the dry ingredients in three equal portions, alternately with

• 1 1/4 cups undiluted evaporated milk

When adding dry and wet ingredients alternately in any baking recipe, always begin and end with the dry ingredients.

Pour batter evenly into 2 well greased and floured 8 inch cake pans. Bake in a 325 degree F oven for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Watch it carefully, you will not want to over bake this cake, as soon as the toothpick comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the pans for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Candied Lemon Peel

Using a very sharp vegetable peeler remove the outside zest of 2 large lemons in large strips, avoiding the white part of the peel as much as possible. Add to a very small pot along with:

• juice of 2 lemons
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water

Simmer together gently for about 15-20 minutes. Remove zest and let it drain on a wire rack. Reserve about half the syrup to brush on the cake layers.

Lemon Curd

In a small saucepan combine:

• 6 lightly beaten egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• zest of one lemon, finely minced

Cook slowly over medium low heat for about 10 minutes stirring constantly until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Remove from heat and stir in the butter a few pieces at a time until completely smooth.

• 1/2 cup butter cut into small pieces

Cover with plastic wrap and chill completely in the fridge.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

• 8 cups icing sugar (i.e. powdered sugar, confectioners' sugar)
• 2 cups butter

Using an electric mixer on low, mix the butter and icing sugar together until the butter breaks up and get evenly dispersed throughout the sugar in small pieces. The mixture will still appear dry at this point. This stage ensures even distribution and prevents butter lumps in your frosting.

Add

• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• zest of one lemon, finely minced
• Approximately 4-6 tbsp milk

Both of these liquid measures can be adjusted. The milk can be adjusted to make a thicker frosting by adding less or a more spreadable frosting by adding a little more. Use your own judgement here. The lemon juice can be adjusted to your own taste too.

When the icing reaches the desired consistently continue to beat it on high speed for 5 minutes to incorporate more air into the frosting to make it lighter and fluffier.

To construct the cake:

Split the two layers of cake horizontally to create 4 layers. Brush the reserved syrup onto the cut sides of the cake layers.

Place the first layer of cake on the cake plate and top with some of the lemon buttercream frosting. Add the next layer and using a piping bag, or a heavy plastic bag with a half inch opening snipped off the corner, pipe a ring of frosting around the perimeter of the cake. Fill the ring with half of the lemon curd. Add the next layer of cake and top with more of the frosting.

Add the final layer of cake. At this point frost the sides of the cake and pipe a border on the top and bottom. Add the second half of the lemon curd to the top of the cake and garnish the top of the cake with pieces of candied lemon zest. I use kitchen scissors to cut 1/2 inch pieces to decorate the border and then add a small pile of slivered zest to the center of the cake. Chill for several hours or overnight before serving.

Strawberry White Chocolate Buttercream Cake - our 800th recipe!

Strawberry White Chocolate Buttercream Cake

This is a big "pause" moment for me. Today marks the 800th recipe posted on Rock Recipes. Just writing that seems more than a little odd. On a quiet Saturday afternoon, as I write this recipe, I take a step back to ask the question, "Why the heck am I doing this anyway?". It is a good question and one I'm often asked, so I've stopped to consider what the real answer is.

Cooking and baking has always come naturally to me. As a child, I was transfixed by the possibilities that simple ingredients could be transformed into something greater than the sum of it's parts. The fact that only butter and flour could be transformed into puff pastry for example, was magic to me. How was that possible? The realization that the fusion of simple ingredients to create something much more amazing than its simple components was the catalyst that pushed me forward. In seeking the possibilities, I came quickly to realize that they were endless.

Endless possibility in anything that you are passionate about is what enriches your life and makes it better. Even in the early days of beginning to cook, I resisted repetition. Why have meatloaf for dinner every Tuesday when there were so many more possibilities ? I think ultimately, that is why I write this blog, to help illuminate the possibilities.Thanks to all who joined along the way. We haven't exhausted the possibilities yet.

To celebrate I've created this terrific layer cake. I always think this cake is even better the next day when the sugar from the frosting has made the berry chunks even more sweet and luscious.


Vanilla Cake

Sift together and set aside:

• 1 1/2 cups cake and pastry flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Cream together until fluffy:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar

Add, one at a time, beating well after every addition;

• 4 eggs at room temperature

Beat in

• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Gently fold in the dry ingredients in three equal portions, alternately with

• 1 cup undiluted evaporated milk

When adding dry and wet ingredients alternately in any baking recipe, always begin and end with the dry ingredients.


Pour batter evenly into 2 well greased and floured 9 inch cake pans. Bake in a 325 degree F oven for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Watch it carefully, you will not want to over bake this cake, as soon as the toothpick comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the pans for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

• 8 cups icing sugar (i.e. powdered sugar, confectioners sugar)
• 2 cups butter

Using an electric mixer on low, mix the butter and icing sugar together until the butter breaks up and get evenly dispersed throughout the sugar in small pieces. The mixture will still appear dry at this point. This stage ensures even distribution and prevents butter lumps in your frosting.

Add

• 4 tsp vanilla extract
• Approximately 6 tbsp milk

Both of these liquid measures can be adjusted. The milk can be adjusted to make a thicker frosting by adding less or a more spreadable frosting by adding a little more. Use you own judgement here. The vanilla extract can be adjusted to your own taste too.

When the icing reaches the desired consistently continue to beat it on high speed for 5 minutes to incorporate more air into the frosting to make it lighter and fluffier. Fold in:

• 2 cups diced fresh strawberries

Frost the middle and sides evenly with the frosting and chill the cake for several hours before adding the white chocolate ganache glaze.

White Chocolate Ganache Glaze

In a double boiler melt together

• 1 1/3 cups white chocolate chips( or 8 ounces chopped white chocolate)
• 1/4 cup whipping cream

Stir this mix constantly and get it off the heat as soon as the chocolate is melted. You do not want this mixture hot but just luke warm; as close to the melting point as possible. Let it cool down if it gets too hot.

Working as quickly as you can, ( a lazy susan is a big help if you have one) pour the ganache directly in the center of the cake, and then using an icing spatula spread it evenly over the top of the cake, letting it drip off the sides. Garnish with chopped white chocolate and fresh strawberries.

For butter and/or shortening based frostings like this, I do store the cake in the refrigerator but take it out at least an hour before serving to let the frosting warm up to room temperature. Cold frosting is too hard and letting the cake warm up allows this frosting to return to the creamy texture it is meant to have.