OK, so it was my birthday back in February. I generally like to take the day off and bake myself a birthday cake, but that didn't happen until a few days ago. There just weren't any recipes in my collection that were speaking to me—until Deb of Smitten Kitchen posted this beauty.
Smitten Kitchen's "I Want Chocolate" Chocolate Cake
I couldn't get the frosting swirls out of my mind. I even went out and bought a mini offset spatula. I mean, come on:
Can you blame me?
Gimme Chocolate Chocolate Cake
Only slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen's "I Want Chocolate Cake" Cake
I subbed in light brown sugar instead of using the dark brown that the original recipe calls for because I prefer it. And here's a little tip from me to you: whenever I'm baking something, I always double (triple, in the case of chocolate chip cookies) the amount of vanilla called for. Everyone's so stingy with it! Me, I let the vanilla flow. I also swapped out the unsalted butter for salted and made all the optional salt additions required. I think that the salt wrestles with all the sugar in the cake and kicks you in the mouth in this frosting. In a good way.
Oh, and may I make a recommendation? If you're like me and don't use buttermilk often enough to remember to grab it at the grocery store, you might consider picking up a tub of powdered buttermilk in the baking aisle. It's simple to use: the conversion is one tablespoon of the powdered stuff and 1/4 cup of water for every 1/4 cup of buttermilk called for in the recipe. You mix the powdered buttermilk into your dry ingredients and add the water to your wet ingredients. Et voilà! You'll never have to sprint down to the store in your pajamas in the middle of your Saturday morning pancake routine for buttermilk again.
Make this the day after daylight saving time starts—when a nap just won't cut it and you need to sugar shock your system back into action.
Ingredients
Cake
6 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons powdered buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Frosting
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature
Pinch of kosher salt
1 tablespoon cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a square cake pan with parchment paper and butter it.
2. Beat the butter in a stand mixer a bit to loosen it up. Add in the sugars and beat together until the mixture has lightened in color. Scrape down the bowl.
3. Add the egg, the yolk, and the vanilla and beat until combined. Scrape down the bowl.
4. Pour in the water and mix again. Scrape down the bowl. Don’t worry if the batter looks curdled. Everything's going to be alright. Stop the mixer.
5. Place your flour, powdered buttermilk, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a sifter over the batter bowl and sift the heck out of it. Stir the batter on low until just combined and scrape down bowl a final time.
6. Transfer the batter into your prepared pan and smooth flat. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the cake passes the clean toothpick test. Let cool for 10 minutes in the cake pan, and then flip out onto a plate and stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes to completely cool before frosting.
7. Rinse out your batter bowl and get back to the stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat the butter up a bit to loosen it. Add the powdered sugar and salt and beat until fluffy. Pour in the cooled chocolate, the cream, and the vanilla, and beat until combined. Beat the frosting for 1 more minute, and then stop. Knives down, chefs. Just walk away. You don't want to risk melting the butter and having an oily mess on your hands.
8. Scoop the frosting onto the cooled chocolate cake and swirl it around. Finish with rainbow sprinkles.
