Last week, it was the husbands thirtieth birthday.
I had all these grandeur plans of giving him a homemade card and making him a lavish dinner, with all his favourite things, finished off with a homemade chocolate cake.
Then reality came to the party. The husband ended up working a 16 hour day, not even walking into the house until 11:30 PM. So, my grand plan, was thrown out the window.
All except for cake. Which we enjoyed at midnight. Officially, the day AFTER his thirtieth birthday.
This cake is not actually called a dirty thirty chocolate cake, I just nicknamed it that because I think I'm witty and fun. And I wrote it on the top of the cake. Because I'm awesome.
I think all ages should rhyme.
I'm twenty-seven, slice of heaven. About to be twenty-eight, frigging great!
I. AM. A. LOSER.
Chocolate layer cake
[ slightly adapted from Real Simple ]
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup strong brewed coffee
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 8-inch, round cake pans and line with parchment paper circles. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine the butter and coffee and bring to a boil. Once boiled and the butter is completely melted, turn off the heat and set aside. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pour in the coffee/butter mixture and mix with an electric mixer until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the buttermilk and vanilla.
Divide the batter equally between the two pans, tap each pan firmly on the counter to remove any air bubbles and bake for 30 - 40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for at least 20 minutes before inverting them onto a wire rack. Let cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Chocolate frosting
[ from Martha Stewart ]
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 cup natural process cocoa powder, I used Hershey's
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, combine all the ingredients and beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth. About 3 - 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl when needed.
