Extreme Chocolate Birthday Cake

Hello, it’s Nicole here! So, it was my birthday not too long ago…now, my husband hates shopping at the best of times, let alone right now with everything that is going on. So being the thoughtful husband that he is (albeit, with some ulterior motives :P), and knowing how much I love chocolate, and cake, and chocolate cake, and spending time with him…but mostly chocolate cake…he suggested that we bake a big multi-layer chocolate cake together for my birthday. Of course I said yes, and thought I’d share it here too.

 There used to be a restaurant in town that my parents like to go when I was growing up, and they had this delicious 7 layer chocolate cake that my dad absolutely loved. The restaurant shut down, and years later my dad finds out someone he knows used to work there and gave him the recipe! The original recipe was for 12 cakes, but has been cut down for one so that’s why some of the measurements may seem a little funny.  (I also included the measurements we used to make two ¼ sheet pans).

 We decided that this was the chocolate cake we were going to bake, and frost it with my favourite chocolate frosting recipe from my mom (we doubled it), and fill between the layers with Samantha’s chocolate mousse, which we have blogged about here. Since we wanted more than two layers, but only had two cake pans, we decided to do two sheet pans (took 3 single recipes) and cut them both in half for a rectangular four layer cake.

 

Without further ado…here’s our cake:

 

Chocolate Cake

Makes one 10” round cake

(Amounts in brackets, for two 12”x17” sheet pans)

 

Ingredients:

1 cup Sugar (3 cups)

¼ cup + 2 tsp. Cocoa Powder (¾ cup + 2 Tbsp)

½ cup + 2 Tbsp. Oil (1¾  + 2 Tbsp.)

½ cup + 2 tsp. Hot Water (1½ cup + 2 Tbsp.)

2/3 cup Mayo (2 cups)

1¾ cups Flour (5¼ cups)

1 tsp. Baking Powder (1 Tbsp.)

1½ tsp. Baking Soda (4½ tsp.)

2/3 cup Buttermilk (2 cups)

3 Eggs + 1 Egg White (9 Eggs + 3 Whites)

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300°F

In a mixer with the whisk attachment, mix the sugar and cocoa, until blended. Add the oil and blend until smooth, then add the hot water and mix well. Add the mayo and blend until smooth.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and buttermilk.

Mix on low until all dry ingredients are wet – make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Now mix on high to get rid of any lumps – do not over mix.

Add eggs and mix on medium speed until well blended – do not over mix.

Pour batter into greased & lined 10” pan put in the preheated oven right away (do not let them sit out). Bake for 50-60 mins.

Let cool before filling and frosting.

Mousse

(We made 1 1/2 recipes)

Recipe here

 

Chocolate Frosting

(We doubled this recipe)

Ingredients:

½ cup Sugar

½ cup Water

¼ cup Cocoa Powder

6 oz Dark Chocolate

6 oz Unsalted Butter

 

Directions:

Heat sugar, water and cocoa in a saucepan, stirring until smooth and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate and butter to the pan and whisk until both are melted and mixture is smooth.

Chill for at least an hour in the refrigerator. Mix on high speed in mixer until fluffy.

 

Once all the components were ready, we trimmed the edges of the cake then measured and cut them both in half so we had four equal sized layers. We decided to build it on a sheet pan because we didn't have any other plates or trays that were big enough! We split the mousse into three equal parts. Put the first layer of cake down an covered it with mousse, followed by the second layer of cake, then mousse then cake, then mousse, then cake.

    

We then put this in the freezer to harden up the mousse a bit before frosting it. 

We had a bit of a mishap when layering the mousse on. The second layer of cake broke in half when we put it on, and then when we put it in the fridge to harden the mousse up a bit, it slid and the top layers started falling off and getting mousse everywhere. We were able to fix it, but next time we would probably surround each layer with an frosting ‘dam’ along the edges to hold the mousse in. The weather was also fairly warm, so that probably didn’t help. In the end, we put it in the freezer once we fixed it, so that it would be easier to frost. This also made the tray messy, but thankfully that doesn't change the flavour!

It was delicious, and chocolatey…and GIANT…and heavy! Now I understand why in all those cake shows on TV they talk about how heavy their fancy cakes are!! There was so much cake that we shared some with my family, my husband's family and still had extra that we put in the freezer so we could enjoy it again later.

National Carrot Cake Day

It’s the last few days of January and we are finishing up our mini theme of National Days and a good one to finish on is a super yummy one, Carrot Cake Day.

Monday, February 3^rd is National Carrot Cake Day. Every year Carrot Cake day is celebrated on February 3^rd and it’s a day to eat this yummy dessert. Carrots are a natural sweetener and have been used as sweeteners since the Middle Ages and in a way this cake is a healthy option because it has vegetables in it. If you have a favourite recipe then pull it out and make it, you still have time, Carrot Cake Day isn’t until Monday, but if not we have provided one of our favourites for you to try out. If you’re not into baking then head out to the local bakery or grocery store and pick up a cake (see if they know that Monday is National Carrot Cake Day).

Carrot Cake:

2 cups of flour

2 cups of sugar

½ tsp. of salt

1 tsp. of baking soda

2 tsp. of cinnamon

3 eggs

1 ½ cup of vegetable oil

2 cups of finely grated carrots

1 tsp. of vanilla

1 cup of well drained crushed pineapple

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 packages, 3 ounces each, of cream cheese

3 cups of icing sugar

6 Tbsp. of butter or margarine

1 tsp. of vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 13x9 inch pan and put aside for now.

In a mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients.

Next add the eggs, oil, carrots, and vanilla. Beat until combined.

Stir in the pineapple and then pour into the greased baking pan.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean.

While the cake is cooking you can make your frosting. Combine all of the frosting ingredients in your mixer’s bowl and beat until well blended and fluffy looking.

Once the cake is out of the oven, allow it to cool before icing.

This cake makes 12-16 servings and can also be made into cupcakes which are yummy as well. You can even leave them unfrosted too.

New Years Oliebollen

Now that Christmas is over and done with, up next is New Year’s. On our last trip around the world, we are going to Holland and looking at a traditional New Year’s treat.

Oliebollen are deep fried donut like balls often containing currents and then sprinkled with icing sugar. They are like a dessert dumpling. They are first thought to have originated in Germanic tribes in the Netherlands during the Yule season which runs from December 26^th and January 6^th.  The name Oliebollen means oil ball or oil cookie. A typical Oliebollen recipes calls for flour, yeast, baking powder, salt, eggs, currents and milk. Many recipes do also call for raisins and finely chopped Granny Smith apples.

Take a look at our try at Oliebollen and see if it inspires you to make some for the New Year!

Classic Oliebollen Recipe

You will need...

4 cups of flour

2 packets/4 tsp. of yeast

1 tsp. of salt

1 large egg

1 ½ cup of lukewarm milk (about 50 seconds in the microwave)

2/3 cups of currents (optional)

2/3 cups of raisin (optional)

1 small Granny Smith apple (optional)

Oil for deep frying

Icing sugar to top

How to...

Put flour, yeast, and salt into mixer’s bowl/mixing bowl. Stir together.

Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and crack your egg into it. Cover with your lukewarm 

milk.

Using a dough hook if your using your mixer or a wooden spoon if you are not, Mix it all together to make a sticky wet dough.

Cover with saran wrap or a wet dish towel and place in a warm spot to rise - about 1-2 hours or until it doubles in size. If you can find a warm spot, put your oven at around 200 degrees and place it in the oven to rise.

Once risen, use two tablespoons and scoop the batter into the hot oil. 

Cook until puffed up and golden brown.

Pat with paper towel to remove excess oil and then sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy warm. They aren’t the best to eat the next day so gobble them all up while fresh!

Yule Log

It’s only a few more weeks until Christmas and we have a few more traditional foods to cover. This week we are going to look at the Yule Log. It’s a Christmas staple for many and always looks so delicious.

You’ll see many variations of Yule Logs; they are known in many countries France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, Lebanon, the UK, and many French colonies. The origin of the Yule Log is thought to be French in about the 19^th century. The French call the Yule Log, Buche de Noel. The original and traditional Yule Log is made from a yellow sponge cake baked thin in a shallow baking pan. Then it’s iced, rolled to make a cylinder or “log,” and then it’s iced again and decorated usually to look like some sort of decorated log. You might see berries, snow, branches, mushrooms, and bark like textures on Yule Logs. Typically you’ll have a yellow sponge cake with a chocolate buttercream but you’ll see all sorts of combinations now including adding alcoholic, coffee, and citrus flavouring.   

Instead of making an actual Yule Log, we decided to make a deconstructed one (somewhat) and make mini yellow sponge cupcakes with a chocolate buttercream frosting.   

Take a look below at my favourite yellow cake recipe and buttercream recipe. You can use it to actually make a Yule Log of your own this Christmas!

Yellow Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

½ cup of whole milk

4 large eggs

2 tsp. of vanilla extract

1 ¾ cups of flour

1 ½ cups of granulated sugar

2 tsp. of baking powder

¾ tsp. of salt

16 Tbsp. of butter or margarine, softened

1-2 tsp. of orange extract if using

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Line mini muffin tins, regular size muffin tins, or grease and flour a cake pan and layer the bottom with parchment.

Whisk the milk, eggs, and vanilla together in a bowl and set aside. If you are adding in another flavour like orange extract or coffee, add it in now and whisk.

Now in the bowl of your mixer, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Mix in the butter slowly until it looks like moist crumbs.

Beat in all but ½ cup of the milk mixture and increase the speed to medium. Allow it to beat until light and fluffy looking.

Next on low, slowly add in the last bit of milk that you left out earlier. Beat until the batter looks slightly curdled.

Stir your batter one last time and then pour or spoon into the prepared pans.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before icing. I stashed them away in the fridge overnight.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

3 sticks of butter or margarine, softened

3 Tbsp. of heavy cream

2 ½ tsp. of vanilla

¼ tsp. of salt

3 cups of icing sugar

1/2 - 3/4 cups of unsweetened cocoa powder

Beat the butter, cream vanilla, and salt on high until smooth.

Once beaten, add in the icing sugar and cocoa powder slowly. Once it’s all somewhat incorporated, then put your mixer on high and whip it up for about 5-10 minutes or until light and fluffy looking.

Ice your cooled cupcakes or cake and enjoy.