Four Layer Coffee Toffee Chocolate Cake

Ok people, look. You know I don't joke about desserts. I experiment with all kinds of cake recipes and usually bring them into work - to see what everyone thinks. I gotta say, my colleagues are very appreciative and always complimentary. But it's a captive audience. I mean, no matter how bad the cake (think 3 square feet of Stop & Shop sheet cake), cake tastes good when you're at work. We circle like vultures - no matter what it is! But I made this cake for a special occasion. My dear colleague Hilary was accepted into nursing school which called for a special chocolate cake. I found what seemed to be a good looking chocolate cake base recipe (via Smitten Kitchen) and added the frills. This is it. I don't just mean the recipe. This is THE chocolate cake. The one that I will always make from now on....make this.

*It must be noted - VERY CLEARLY - that this recipe is for TWO 10" cake pans. I accidentally made this with 9" pans and boy oh boy, 30 mins into baking I was baking a third cake on the bottom of my oven. Having tasted the batter before baking, and because I didn't want to ruin the surprise party the next day with a store bought cake, I was determined to save them. Took them out, cleaned the oven (while it was ON) and put them back in. Saved. Once you try this cake, you will understand why I almost singed off my new bangs...

Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar
1 stick of butter, cut into 6-8 pieces
6 tbsp cream
2 tbsp honey
3 tbsp water
1/4 tsp sea salt or kosher salt

Chocolate Cake
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 well shaken buttermilk
2/4 tsp vanilla

Ganache Frosting and Filling
1 lb 60% sweet chocolate chips
1 cup light cream
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces1 package of Heath Bar crunchies (available in baking section)

1. To make the caramel, melt sugar over medium heat in a saucepan, stirring if necessary to break up chunks. Once melted, it should be a copper color. Remove from heat, stir in butter then stir in cream, salt, honey, and water. Return to medium high heat until bubbling and a shade darker. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 300 and grease your (10 INCH!!) pans, line bottoms with parchment if you have it. Put the chocolate in a medium sized bowl and pour the hot coffee over it. Stir until melted. In a large bowl, sift together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

3. In another bowl with an electric mixer, beat eggs until thickened and lemon colored. Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture and beat until combined (watch out for the splash). Add sugar mixture (seriously watch out for the cocoa bomb that will fill your kitchen with a brown cloud if you're not careful - this ALSO happened to me while making this cake) and beat on medium until just combined. Divide batter between the two pans and bake for ~ 1 hr and 10 mins.

4. To make the ganache, bring the cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil in a saucepan and whisk in sugar until dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until melted. Add butter and whisk until smooth. Pour into a bowl or container and put in the fridge to firm up a bit.

When cake is done, set on a rack to cool for about 10 minutes and then remove cake from pans. When cool, you can assemble the cake. At this point, you can wrap the cake in plastic and put in the fridge overnight or in the freezer for longer. To save the caramel and ganache, just cover and put in fridge. Microwave on defrost for about 3 mins to soften them up when ready to use.

To assemble the cake, here's what you do. First, cut both cakes in half so that you have 4 layers. Place the layers on the counter, cut sides up. Put the first layer on your plate/cake stand, cut side up. Pour enough caramel sauce over the top so that you can spread it with a spoon and cover most of the surface. The caramel can (and should, a little) seep into the cake. Sprinkle with heath crunchies. On another cake layer, spread a thinnish layer of ganache on the cut side. Then put it on top of the first layer, chocolate side down - like a cake sandwich (!). Spread a thin layer of ganache on top of the cake and lay another layer of cake on top, cut side up. Repeat the caramel, heath crunchies, and then the fourth cake layer with ganache. Put the fourth layer on top, ganache side down. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the ganache.

You will thank me for this...

Guinness Cupcakes

What could possibly make a cupcake any better? A cupcake with beer. And not any beer, GUINNESS. Given that Reba and I spent the better part of the last few years at the Druid, it was only appropriate to have her and Andy's engagement party there. And as if we weren't getting enough Guinness from the bar, these cupcakes really topped it off. The cream cheese frosting even makes them look like mini pints of Guinness.

Chocolate & Guinness Cupcakes

1 (12 oz) bottle of Guinness
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup cocoa (Ghirardelli!)
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix the Guinness, milk, oil, and vanilla.

3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the sour cream.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa, sugar, and baking soda.

5. Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the Guinness mixture. The batter will seem a bit soupy and you may have to use a ladle to pour the batter into the cupcake tins.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup cream (heavy or light)
~2-3 cups confectioners sugar

1. Beat the cream cheese until fluffy

2. Add the cream

3. Add the sugar. I like my cream cheese frosting tangy and cheesy, add more sugar if you like it sweet and/or to thicken the frosting a bit.

*The frosting will not be very thick, add sugar until it thickens a bit more if you need to. Otherwise, if you can, put the frosting in the fridge for a couple of hours and it'll thicken a bit. When frosting the cupcakes, put a large dallop on top and try to avoid getting too close to the edges, the frosting may run a bit and if you keep it right on top, it probably won't run off the cake.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Rich Chocolate Frosting

I baked 8 dozen of them this week trying out some new recipes to find the best for Reba and Andy's party. Needless to say, the vultures on the 7th floor of the JSI/World Ed office were very happy to add them to their breakfasts (none of us could wait until lunch).

Vanilla Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
*(if you don't have self-rising flour, subsitute 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour + 2 1/4 tsp baking powder + 1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Sift the flour(s) together in a small bowl. Do sift! It makes a difference.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth with an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar until mixture is fluffy.

4. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each.

5. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk and vanilla, beating after each until incorporated but don't overbeat!

6. Fill 2 dozen cupcake liners and pop into the oven for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

7. Cook cupcakes in tin for about 15 minutes and remove to finish cooling.


Rich Chocolate Frosting

3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder (Ghirardelli is the best)
1/4 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1/3 cup of milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Add the flour and cocoa to a medium bowl and whisk together.

2. Add the butter, milk, and vanilla and beat until incorporated.

3. Depending on how thick you like your frosting, you may have to add a little more milk to make it creamier.

Nutella Layered Pound Cake

My sister and I used to make pound cake from a box mix when we were growing up. It was our favorite dessert. I never thought that pound cake needed frosting because it's already so rich and sweet. But let's face it, Nutella makes everything better! I discovered Nutella in Europe almost 15 years ago and since then it's been a love-hate relationship...loving it when I have a jar of it, hating it when my pants are tight in the waistline a week later. The great thing about it for this dessert is that unlike regular frosting, it's thickness holds up to the dense pound cake.

*It's best to bake the pound cake the day/night before you plan to serve it - so it's completely cool before you layer it with Nutella.

Pound Cake:

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla (add another 1/2 tsp for extra vanilla-ness!)
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
1 small jar of Nutella

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, butter, and vanilla together on medium until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs one at a time, beating mixture after each.

4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder together.

5. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the butter mixture, beating after each addition. Begin and end with the flour mixture.

6. Pour batter into a loaf pan (large) and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

7. When finished baking, let the pound cake cool completely (overnight if possible).

Assembly:

Once cooled and removed from the loaf pan. Cut the pound cake horizontally into thirds (lengthwise). Spread about 1/4 inch of Nutella on the bottom layer and place the next section of pound cake on top. Spread more Nutella on the 2nd layer and place the top of the pound cake on top.

To serve, cut vertical pieces so that each slice has two layers of Nutella. For extra goodness, serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.