Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

Someone at David’s lab had a birthday a few years ago, and to celebrate the lab worked together to have a little celebration. My task: the cake. This was an intimidating job, seeing as I have never really baked cakes before, especially for people other than David! So, I did what all smart people do when faced with a challenge that extended past their skills – I read other peoples blogs! One of our friends is a fan-freakin-tastic baker. It’s her hobby and it’s amazing what she whips up for other peoples birthdays, get-togethers, and any other excuse we can come up with to get together. I read other sites devoted to cake baking for recipes and tips too.

When I was looking around at these different sites I was also trying to think what would be a good combination. Vanilla? Chocolate? Whiskey? David had a brilliant idea for the frosting and I felt confident that I could pull off the cake batter recipe I had decided on. I felt that we had come up with a winning combination, and it’s the solution for when you need a chocolate fix and you’re shaking from coffee withdrawal: Chocolate cake and mocha butter cream frosting. Of course! These are two things that you can’t go wrong with.

After talking with David, we decided it would be best to go with a two tier cake using 12” cake pans since we weren’t sure how many people would stop in for the little celebration. So, I made one recipe of this batter for each cake pan. I only have one 12” round cake pan, so I made the tiers one at a time, letting each cool.

*This cake is VERY moist, so wrap it well if you’re storing it in the fridge!

Approx. 20-25 servings

• ·         2 cups sugar
•     1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1.     Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 12” round baking pans.

2.     Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3.     Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost the top of the bottom tier so it has like ½” frosting. Carefully place the second tier of cake on top of the frosted bottom. Gently press down so it doesn't slide around. Frost the entire cake now.

Mocha Buttercream Frosting

To be able to frost between the tiers and the entire outside, I had to make approx. 1 ½ recipes of this frosting.

*This makes a perfectly spreadable frosting. The nice thing about it is that you can put it in the fridge to make it a little more firm if you would like.

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons coffee grounds (ground finely) or instant coffee  

1.     In your mixer, beat the softened butter with the powdered sugar until it is creamy.

2.     Add in the cocoa powder, vanilla extract & coffee.

3.     Beat with the mixer until it's nice and fluffy (about a minute or 2)

The cake was giant. We had to put it on David’s professional sized cutting board to carry it into his work. In the end, it was a giant success!! Everyone loved it, and I think it made that person’s birthday that much better, at least that’s what I’m told J The cake is one of the best chocolate cake recipes I've ever had (that actually tasted like chocolate!), and it’s soooo moist. Delicious.

Even though it's been years, it’s stood out in David’s mind since this birthday extravaganza because every time there is an occasion for cake he requests this one – especially as of late! I may have to make a small cake at some point soon because he’s making me want some!