recipe: the new birthday cake

This recipe was adapted from the Beatty's Chocolate Cake in the Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook. I decided to give it a slightly Mexican twist and to kick the coffee flavor up. It doesn't end up tasting tremendously coffee-y or cinnamon-y. Just super rich and decadent without being overly sweet. A great grown up birthday cake.

And I just messed around with a fairly basic cream cheese buttercream frosting to go along with it.
This is one of those places that I believe in sticking with the very best ingredients. You won't be disappointed.

Cake:

butter for greasing the pans
1 3/4c all purpose flour, plus more for the pans
2 c sugar
3/4 good cocoa powder
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t kosher salt
1-2 t good cinnamon - I like Penzey's Vietnamese for this
1 c buttermilk, shaken
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 extra large eggs, at room temperature - or 2 large eggs + 1 extra yolk
1 t+ pure vanilla extract (I used the paste here, probably about 1 1/2 t)
1 c freshly brewed hot coffee
1 t+ espresso powder (dissolved in coffee)

This is so easy. Preheat oven to 350. Butter two 9" round cake pans (the recipe calls for 8" but I swear to you, after two go-rounds with this cake blowing up into my oven, I think either you have to have very tall 8" pans or just step up to 9" and call it a day), then add a circle of parchment to the bottom of the pan to fit. Butter the parchment, and flour the insides of both pans.

Sift all the dry ingredients together: flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda & powder, salt and cinnamon. Pay attention to what's left in your sifter or strainer, as I almost lost all of my salt this way! Pour the dry ingredients into your mixing bowl, using the paddle attachment.

In a separate bowl, combine: buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla. With the mixer on slow speed, gently add the wet ingredients. With the mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom with a rubber spatula as you go. Taste the batter here and decide if you need more cinnamon or salt. (Or if you just want to sit down with the bowl and a big spoon.)

Batter in pans. Pans in oven for somewhere between 30-40 minutes. Toothpick will come out clean and center will be set. Now, be patient because this cake is super moist. Let the layers cool in the pans for 30 minutes; then turn them out onto the cooling rack and cool the rest of the way. If you don't frost the same day, wrap each cooled layer well with plastic wrap and leave on the counter. Heck, I think you could freeze them at this point too.

Frosting :
2 - 8oz pkg cream cheese (low-fat works fine); room temp
1 1/3 stick butter; room temp
4 t vanilla (I did half with the vanilla paste and half with vanilla extract to get the little black flecks in my frosting)
4 c (approx) powdered sugar
pinch kosher salt

This comes together best by sight/taste. You may not need all of the vanilla, or you may want more if you're looking for a sweeter flavor. I think somewhere around 4 c of powdered sugar works well but you may adjust that as you go too.

Start by creaming together the cream cheese and butter. Add vanilla. Slowly add powdered sugar about 1/2 c at a time. If it gets too thick, you can always add a tablespoon of cream or milk.

Frost the cake:
I strongly suggest crumb coating the layers first or you'll have a mess on your hands. Put the first layer on your cake plate and slide 2" strips of parchment under the edges all the way around; you'll remove these later and have a lot less frosting to clean off the plate. Add a good cup or so of frosting to the middle and smooth it out. Don't worry if the excess drips off the edge. In fact, it's almost better if some does squoosh out.

Add the second layer on top. Then add about 1/4 of the remaining frosting to the top. You're looking for a thin layer - just enough to coat and lock the crumbs down. When you go back to frost it, you don't want ANY chocolatey pieces coming into play. Just nice frosting.

Chill the cake and the remaining frosting for about 20 minutes here. Keep an eye on the frosting though so it doesn't get too thick. You may have to pull it out before the cake.

Then frost - be generous on the top and let the stuff goo down the sides of the cake. Add more to the sides and do whatever you do to straighten out the edges and put a nice finish on the top. Again, chill for at least 20-30 minutes after frosting, up to a few hours. Remove the parchment strips and tidy up the plate with a damp paper towel. Then back into the fridge if necessary. If you do leave it chilled for more than an hour or so, give it 10-15 minutes to come up to room temp before you try to cut it.

(Cake also works out perfectly as cupcakes; pipe the tops with a thick ribbon of frosting and sprinkle with some of that clear edible glitter for a beautiful finish.)