Apparently, November 26th, is National Cake Day. Who knew?
I have no clue why and I am especially unsure why they would put this holiday anywhere near Thanksgiving, but that’s no excuse for not participating. And if you do, make this cake.
Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures to show you the inside of the cake due to the fact that I’ve destroyed the two cameras which were formerly used to take pictures for this blog. However, I hope you’ll trust me when I say that the cake was just as good as the one layer Chocolate Stout Cake I made before and was the inspiration for this cake. It was extremely moist (because of the beer and sour cream), the frosting was fluffy and chocolatey, it was beautiful and it was a hit with the crowd. So much so that certain people were begging to get at the last tiny pieces of the cake before everyone had even had a slice. That’s what I call a success.
In addition, this cake gave me a good excuse to practice some of the cake decorating tips and tricks which I learned last December. My mother was kind enough to gift my sister and me a private cake decorating class with her and the cake maker from “About the Cake” a professional cake maker who has appeared on cake wars. Aside from being extremely fun, we got to keep the cakes we decorated, almond flavored with vanilla frosting, and man were they delicious.
So thanks again Mamá for the lesson and next time I’ll hope to have better pictures to show off just how much I learned!
Double Layer Stout Cake with Chocolate Buttercream (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen & Sweet Savory Life)
Chocolate Stout Cake Ingredients:1 cup stout beer (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream (you can substitute plain yogurt or crème fraiche if necessary)
Directions for Chocolate Stout Cake:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 10 inch round cake pans. If you don't have two cake pans, you can get by with one (I know I've done it) but it takes forever so just do yourself a favor and buy two pans, chances are you'll use them again for your next layer cake.
2) Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in a medium size saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
3) Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.
4) Using an electric mixer, (I almost never use one and it still comes out well) beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend.
5) Add slightly cooled stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined (Do not overmix!).
6) Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until tester inserted into center of both cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack; cool completely in the pan (be sure it's really completely cool or you might get chunks of cake stuck to your pan!). Then, turn cakes out onto rack. While cakes cool even further, make your frosting.
Ingredients for Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but not melted
2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract
4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Directions for Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
1) Cream butter for a few minutes on medium speed if you're using a standing mixer, medium high if you're using a hand mixer.
2) Add powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter.
3) Increase mixer speed to medium/medium high and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
4) Place your first cake on the platter you will use for serving. Then place 1/4 to1/3 of your frosting on top and spread evenly. Then place the other layer on top and cover with remaining frosting. For white detailing on cake, make vanilla buttercream frosting.
Ingredients for Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened but not melted
11/2 cups of powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Directions for Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
1) ) Cream butter for a few minutes on medium speed if you're using a standing mixer, medium high if you're using a hand mixer.
2) Add powdered sugar to mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed until the powdered sugar is absorbed by the butter.
3) Increase mixer speed to medium/medium high and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more powdered sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
4) Pipe onto cake in desired design.
