Or Just For Whenever You Feel Like It, It’s Cake After All!
It’s almost time for the best day ever! No, we don’t mean Valentine’s Day, we’re talking about the day after, when all of the chocolate goes on sale! Now is the best time of year to snap up all sorts of delicious chocolates and make them into fun new desserts. This year, to celebrate, we made a layered chocolate pecan cake with frosting so rich and delicious you’ll have to force yourself to walk away.
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4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
⅔ c unsweetened, non-alkalized American-style cocoa powder (normally we’re all for substitutions, but due to the chemical reactions, you need to get specifically this type of cocoa)
1 ¼ tsp baking soda
¾ c boiling water
1 ⅓ c unsifted cake flour
1 c all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt + a pinch
2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
5 large eggs
1 c sour cream
2 ½ tsp vanilla extract
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⅔ c heavy cream
⅔ c granulated sugar
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 ½ Tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract + 1 ½ Tbsp vanilla
8oz milk chocolate chips
2 ½ oz unsweetened chocolate
11 oz of cream cheese
2 - 2 ½ c powdered sugar
1-2 tsp water
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Two 9 Inch round cake pans
Sifter
Heavy-bottomed sauce pot
Several small bowls for ingredients
Parchment paper
whisk
Electric mixer or stand mixer
Silicon spatula
Icing knife
Wire racks
Making the Cake
Let’s start by taking your chocolate, for both the cake and the icing and getting them chopped up and set into their own bowls. You don’t have to dice them or make sure they’re even, what matters is breaking it up so that the melting can happen more easily later.
Next up, let’s prep the pans and the oven. Set one of your oven racks into the middle of the oven and set it to preheat to 350*F. While that’s ticking away, take up your two 9-inch, round cake pans and parchment paper. You’re going to want to generously grease the bottom and sides of the cake pans and then insert rounds of the parchment into the bottoms. Then grease the parchment as well. Once you’ve done that, take up a little bit of all-purpose flour and dust the pans. Tip the pans from side to side, making sure you have everything covered, and then tap out the excess over the trash.
Next up, pop your unsweetened chocolate (the 4oz you need for the cake, not the amount needed for the icing) into the microwave. Microwave it on high power for 20 seconds, remove it and stir. Continue this process back and forth until your chocolate is almost melted. Once you can see the melted edges, stir continuously and allow the residual heat to melt the chocolate the rest of the way through.
In a medium bowl, stir together your cocoa powder and baking soda until well blended. Pour your boiling water over the mixture, stirring consistently. It’s going to bubble up, and that is the reaction you want which is going to make the cake light and fluffy and so tasty. Let that cool while we move on to mixing the ingredients.
Take a sheet of parchment paper and lay it down on your counter and grab your sifting mesh. Sift together your flours over the paper.
In a separate large bowl, using a mixter on medium, beat your butter until it’s light and fluffy. You’ll need to scrape the sides down a few times as you, as the butter gets tossed everywhere by the mixer. Next, beat in one egg at a time, until just blended. Then add in your cocoa mixture and continue beating, still at medium, until the mixture is free of lumps. Again, you’ll need to scrape the sides down as you go. The mixture might look kind of curdled at this stage, it’s ok.
Now let’s grab the chocolate we melted earlier. If it’s still warm and runny, that’s great! If not, pop it back into the microwave for a few seconds until it is nice and fluid again. Then add it into the batter until it’s smooth and fully incorporated.
Switch the mixer down to low and beat in half of your dry ingredients. Once those are mixed in, add both the sour cream and the vanilla. Mix that together for 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl down as needed. Then beat in the rest of the dry ingredients just until the batter becomes smooth.
Split the batter between the pans, using the back of a spoon to spread it to the edges. Back it in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, but still moist and the cakes are starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer the pans over to a wire rack and let them cool completely. (Don’t do what we did and make the icing at this time.)
When the cakes are fully cooled, carefully run a knife around the side of the pans and under the parchment. Go all the way around and then rap the pan on the counter to loosen the parchment from the bottom. Grab a plate and holding it tight against the top of the plan, flip the cake onto the plate and remove the paper. Once both cakes are out of their pans, give them a few more minutes to cool.
Making the Frosting
Now that your cakes are on their way to being completely cool, it’s time to make the icing!
Take your 2-quart saucepan and put that on the stove, over medium-high heat. You’re going to add in, in order, your butter,cream, granulated sugar and then the corn syrup. (it’s best to do this quickly so nothing scorches, but that’s also why the butter goes in first.) Stir consistently while everything bubbles and melts and begins to blend. You can wash down the sides of the pan using a pastry brush in warm water, although we found this to be difficult.
Once you’ve brought it up to a boil, keep it there for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. When the 3 minutes are up, remove it from the heat, add in the vanilla mixture and your chocolate until they completely melt. (It’s ok if they look slightly separated at this point.)
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and grab your mixer again. Turn it on to low speed and beat in your cream cheese, one chunk at a time. Continue beating until all of the cream cheese is mixed in, scraping down the sides as needed.
Next up, add in one cup of powdered sugar at a time, beating just to incorporated each time. Now raise the speed to medium-low and beat until the icing is completely smooth, approximately 1-2 minutes. It should be cool to the touch at this point.
If the frosting is too thin, add in up to ½ cup more of powdered sugar, until fully incorporated and smooth. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, and then ice your cake. Because of the base, this is not a frosting you can make ahead of time and use later.
Spread a tiny bit of icing onto your serving plate of choice and place your first cake layer centered on top of it. Add a dollop of icing on the center and spread evenly. Cover the icing in pecan halves and then add a slightly thinner layer of icing on top of that. Place the second layer of cake and then put icing on top of that. Spread the icing evenly on top, and then use it to coat the sides. When finished, wrap the bottom of the cake in a layer of pecans.
Slice and enjoy!
With that, enjoy your cake, and eat it too! (After all, what’s the point of a cake if you can’t?)
If you do make this one, let us know over on our Facebook page! We love to hear what y’all get up and what changes you make.
If your oven is giving you fits in trying to make this, reach out to us on our contact page or by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055). We’ll work with you to set up an appointment that works with your schedule. Our goal at Appliance Rescue Service is to get your home running smoothly again.