My Spin on German Chocolate Cake.

I grew up with German chocolate cake. I am sure Mom made it from the recipe from the Baker's Chocolate box. It is a light chocolate cake made with egg whites and tends to be a bit dry. When I discovered the David Lebowitz German chocolate cake recipe I felt like I hit the jackpot. He brushes syrup on each layer and toasts the coconut. This adds a great texture to the filling. 

The cake I made for a big birthday was 10 inches, three layers measuring almost six inches high. To make the extra ten inch layer I made one and a half recipes. The recipe will make three eight inch layers or two 10 inch layers. I doubled it and saved the extra layer.

Cake

2 oz dark chocolate. I use Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate. 

1 oz Trader Joe's Milk Chocolate

1 ½ cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups sugar
2 ½ cups flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
1 ¼ tsp salt
3 large eggs (room temperature)
¾ cup canola oil
1 ½ cups well-shaken buttermilk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Finely chop chocolates and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another (very) large bowl, beat eggs with an electric mixer until thickened slightly and lemon-colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed, until just combined well.

Butter and cocoa powder all the pans and cut a circle of parchment for the bottom. Use the Wilton Bake-even Cake Strips on every pan. No domes with bake strips. Putting a rose nail in the center of each layer while baking also helps them bake evenly.

Bake in middle of oven for 50 minutes. One crucial thing I do is keep an eagle eye on my cakes and test as soon as I think they may be done, taking them out just as soon as the toothpick comes out clean.

My current go-to frosting is a combination of Hershey's recipe from the back of the container, and ganache.

Chocolate Frosting for German chocolate cake

Ganache

6 ounces dark chocolate. 

2 ounces milk chocolate. I use Trader Joe's
1 cup heavy cream

Chop chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream until it just begins to boil. I put it in the microwave for a minute or two. Place the 8 ounces of chopped chocolate in a bowl with the cream. Let stand one minute, then stir until smooth. Let the ganache come to room temperature.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2/3 cup Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and cream, beating to spreading consistency.
Add small amount additional cream, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Add the ganache mixture and mix until smooth. If you would like a fluffier frosting. Cool for an hour in the fridge then beat in stand mixer for 3-4 minutes. About 2 1/2 cups frosting.

Double the recipe for the 10" cake.

Filling

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup sugar

3 large egg yolks

3 ounces butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped

1 1/3 cups unsweetened coconut, toasted

I have toasted coconut in the microwave in small amounts and it comes out crispy for me. You do need to watch it carefully. For larger amounts I put a layer of coconut on parchment on a sheet pan in the oven at 350 degrees for 8 -10 minutes in the oven. Watch it carefully and stir about halfway through. Baked by an Introvert compared three ways to toast coconut and gives her opinion on each method. Toasting the coconut is an important step in this cake. More coconut will give your filling structure and keep the filling from squooshing down. Mix the cream, sugar, and egg yolks in a medium saucepan. Put the 3 ounces butter, salt, toasted coconut, and pecan pieces in a large bowl. Heat the cream mixture and cook, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the spoon (an instant-read thermometer will read 170°.) You will know the mixture has thickened enough if you can draw a line with your finger on the back of the spoon. Pour the hot custard immediately into the pecan-coconut mixture and stir until the butter is melted. Cool completely to room temperature. (It will thicken.) For the syrup: 1 cup water 3/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoons dark rum To make the syrup: In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and water until the sugar has melted. Remove from heat and stir in the dark rum. Putting cake together Brush each cake layer well with syrup. Make a dam of chocolate frosting around the edges of each layer. This will keep the filling inside. Spread ¾ cup of the coconut filling over the cake layer, making sure to reach to the edges. Set another cake layer on top. Repeat, using the syrup to brush each cake layer, making a dam, then spreading ¾ cup of the coconut filling over each layer, including the top. Ice the sides with the chocolate icing, then pipe a decorative border of chocolate icing around the top, encircling the coconut topping.

Organic Gluten Free Chocolate Birthday...with Trucks

This year the birthday boy is getting big and loves all things truck. His mom asked for a gluten free organic chocolate this year. 

 

Gluten free chocolate was a new one for me so I did a test with good ol' King Arthur gluten free Baking mix which I had on hand.. 

King Arthur Chocolate Cake 

Ingredients

• 1 cup (120g) Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Mix*
• 1/2 cup (43g) Dutch-process cocoa
• 1 cup (198g) sugar
• 1/4 cup (57g) butter, at room temperature, at least 65°F
• 1/4 cup (50g) vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (113g) water

*Make sure you use their Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Mix, not their Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8" square or 9" round pan; or line 12 muffin cups with cupcake papers, and spray the insides of the papers with non-stick vegetable oil spray.

2. Whisk together the baking mix and cocoa.

3. Beat the sugar, butter, vegetable oil, and vanilla together until well blended and lighter in color.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until just incorporated after each addition.

5. Stir in the baking mix alternately with the water.

6. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. For cupcakes, scoop batter by level 1/4 cupfuls into the prepared muffin tins; a muffin scoop works well here.

7. Bake the cake until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean and the middle springs back when pressed lightly, 35 to 40 minutes for a layer, or 20 to 22 minutes for cupcakes.

8. Remove the cake from the oven, and set it on a rack. Allow it to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before removing it from pan.

9. Cool another 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into squares; or cool completely before frosting.

This came out great! The texture was a little like brownie, but nothing wrong with that!

Because it had to be organic I moved on to another recipe and went and got some organic gluten free flour blend. 

A tad pricey but it fit the requirements. Of course I found a mix at Sprouts for much less after I received the pricey stuff. 

Onward to the 2 year old's hopefully actual cake from The Loopy Whisk. The author really goes into detail about what makes the recipe work. The site is authored by a baker who, for health reasons, lives gluten free so she knows a thing or two about how to bake gluten free. It is full of gorgeous pictures of her gluten free desserts.

The Ultimate Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

 Servings 10

 Author Kat | The Loopy Whisk

Ingredients

For gluten free chocolate sponges:

• 2 cups + 3 tbsp (265 g) plain gluten free flour blend (I've used a simple store-bought blend containing only rice, potato and maize flours, with no added xanthan gum)
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 3/8 cup + 1/2 tbsp (50 g) cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup + 2 tsp (250 mL) milk, room temperature
• 1/2 cup + 1 tsp (125 mL) vegetable or sunflower oil
• 1 cup + 2 tsp (250 mL) boiling hot water

For chocolate buttercream frosting:

• 3 sticks (340 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups (250 g) powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (75 g) cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 5 1/3 oz (150 g) dark chocolate, melted and cooled

Instructions

For gluten free chocolate sponges:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 355 ºF (180 ºC) and line two 7 inch round cake pans with greaseproof/baking paper.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the gluten free flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder.

3. Add the granulated sugar and salt, and whisk well.

4. Add the eggs, milk and vegetable/sunflower oil. Whisk well, until you get a smooth cake batter.

5. Add the boiling hot water, and whisk until you get a runny cake batter with no lumps.

6. Evenly distribute the cake batter between the two lined cake pans, and bake in the pre-heated oven at 355 ºF (180 ºC) for about 40 minutes or until spongy to the touch and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

7. Allow to cool.

For chocolate buttercream frosting:

1. In a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer with the double beater attachments, beat the butter for 2 - 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy.

2. Add the powdered sugar, and beat for a further 5 minutes.

3. Add the cocoa powder and salt, and beat until evenly distributed in the buttercream.

4. Add in the melted (and cooled) dark chocolate, and beat until you get a rich, fluffy chocolate frosting with an even chocolate brown colour.

Assembling the cake:

1. If the sponges are domed, level them out by cutting off the domed tops with a serrated knife.

2. Place the bottom sponge layer on a cake stand, and spread a generous layer of frosting on top, but leave enough for frosting the outside of the cake. Then, place the other sponge on top of the frosting.

3. Use the remaining chocolate buttercream to frost the outside of the cake. Decorate the cake by creating swirls of buttercream with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon

Storage:

1. The gluten free chocolate cake keeps well in the fridge, in a closed container or wrapped in cling film, for 3 - 4 days.

This came out pretty good. The crumb was very moist, almost fudgy. 

I really wanted to make the trucks out of fondant but my efforts looked pretty lame next to the cute little trucks I had already purchased. I think what convinced me was the fact that they were the perfect size and also they will be toys! I rolled out some little platforms out of tootsie rolls and used my cobblestone molds. This way the trucks didn't have to touch th cake. Little things like the cones and barriers were fondant as well as the 2 and Happy Birthday Jonah. The rubble was Trader Joe's toffee and I used some candy rocks around the base. 

The top layer was the gluten free and the bottom was my favorite chocolate. Everything was organic and got good reviews. The mom sent me a picture of a smiling Jonah eating his first chocolate cake!

Adventures in Gluten Free

I have been making cakes for my friend's little boy since his baby shower. Since he is only 2 that makes three cakes now. For the shower, since his name would be Jonah, a whale was requested. I did the whale topper in chocolate modeling clay with an isomalt spout. The parents liked it so much they froze the topper and used it for his first birthday cake. Making the spout was fun and challenging since I had never worked with isomalt before. I followed directions on the package and, after couple of near burns to my hand, poured the isomalt into a shape I had made in cornstarch. I think it was a success.  

An organic cake was requested. Around here  it is not hard to find organic ingredients. The frosting was made with organic food colors but they are not the vibrant colors that come with the Wilton fondant and melts. The paneling was the fake stuff, easily removed for the faint of heart. 

For his first birthday he got a smash cake in vanilla and it was gluten free. It got good reviews from the grown ups. King Arthur makes a good gluten free flour blend  and a great baking mix and I used their recipe for his smash cake. 

King Arthur Gluten Free Vanilla Cake 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons, 113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, at least 65°F
• 1 cup (198g) sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (113g) milk, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups (206g) Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Mix*

*Make sure you use their Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Mix, not their Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8" square or 9" round pan; or line 12 muffin cups with cupcake papers, and spray the insides of the papers.

2. To make the batter, beat the soft butter and sugar until thoroughly combined and somewhat lightened in color.

3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until just incorporated.

4. Combine the milk and vanilla.

5. Stir one-third of the baking mix into the mixture; stir in half the milk, another third of the baking mix, the remaining milk, then the remaining mix. Scrape the bowl occasionally throughout this process.

6. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. For cupcakes, scoop the batter by level 1/4-cupfuls into the prepared muffin tins; a muffin scoop works well here.

7. Bake the cake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, and the middle springs back when pressed lightly — 30 to 35 minutes for a layer, or 20 to 22 minutes for cupcakes.

8. Remove from the oven. Serve warm; or cool completely, then spread with the frosting of your choice

The recipe refers to gluten free vanilla extract! That surprised me and upon further research I found out vanilla extract has always been gluten free. Some brands have gotten on the gluten free bandwagon and started labeling their vanilla as "gluten free". 

This was his first birthday cake (organic chocolate) with the little gluten free smash cake behind it. As you can see the whale survived but the spout emerged slightly diminished. The colors were not the organic kind this time around. 

Perfecting My Chocolate Cake

A few years back I made a big ol' chocolate cake.

It is a dark intense chocolate and got lots of good reviews. I love it when I hear "This is the best chocolate cake I have ever had!" Over the years I have tweaked the recipe a bit and added a fudgy chocolate frosting. This cake is for true chocolate lovers and always gets rave reviews. It is my most requested cake.

This month I made it for two birthday boys. One was 2 and one was...not 2. 

The first cake was for the grown up and he loves Sees candy. I picked up all shapes and sizes of Sees, along with my free sample. I also bought, and ate too many, Pepperidge Farm Pirouettes for height. 

I thought of trying to hand write "Happy Birthday" in chocolate but thought better of it. I found this lovely fondant cutter that will definitely be used again:

Thank you (again) Amazon.

My first stab at the sign was done with chocolate modeling clay and a bit of tylose powder for stiffness.

Nope. After two days it was still a tad limp and both broke easily. Not what I want to deal with when I set up a cake on site. Not to mention it was a pain to get out of the cutter and some of the letters got funky as a result. As you can see I made them yellow to help with the eventual gilding. 

Onward to the next attempt. Fondant with gumpaste mix. I added some of the gilding to the mixture. Speckles. Whatever. It will be covered up with gold and disco dust anyway. This was my first time using Amerigold for the gilding. I usually mix luster dust with vodka. This worked so much better.

Success! The sign dried up nice and hard and was easy to put right in the cake. I painted it with the gold sheen then dusted it with gold disco dust.  No skewers needed. I also cut some letters for the name. 

I am told everyone loved the cake and of course were clamoring for the Sees on top.

Everyone's Favorite Chocolate Cake

This makes enough for two 10 inch cake layers each 1 3/4 inches tall.

3 oz Dark chocolate. I use Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate. 

1 ½ cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups sugar
2 ½ cups flour
1 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

½  cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder

2 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
1 ¼ tsp salt
3 large eggs (room temperature)
¾ cup canola oil
1 ½ cups well-shaken buttermilk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. If you’re making cupcakes, line the wells of your pans with fluted paper liners, or grease and dust them with flour or cocoa. If you’re making larger cakes, grease pans and line bottoms with rounds of parchment.

Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another (very) large bowl, beat eggs with an electric mixer until thickened slightly and lemon-colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed, until just combined well.

Flour and  butter all the pans and cut a circle of parchment for the bottom. Every time I do this I remember my mom teaching me this trick. Use the Wilton Bake-even Cake Strips on every pan. These work great. I yell at the screen when I see bakers cut off domes and waste cake (I am looking at you Man About Cake!)  No domes with bake strips. Putting a rose nail in the center of each layer while baking also helps them bake evenly

Bake in middle of oven for 50 minutes. One crucial thing I do is keep an eagle eye on my cakes and test as soon as I think they may be done, taking them out just as soon as the toothpick comes out clean.

My current go-to frosting is a combination of Hershey's recipe from the back of the container, and a David Lebovitz ganache glaze he uses on his German chocolate cake. It is very rich but chocoholics love it.

Ultimate Chocolate Frosting
Ganache
8 ounces dark chocolate. Sometimes I mix milk and dark. I use Trader Joe's
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 1/2 ounces butter

Chop 8 ounces of chocolate in a bowl with the corn syrup and 1 ½ ounces of butter.

Heat the cream until it just begins to boil. I put it in the microwave for a minute or two. Place the 8 ounces of chopped chocolate in a bowl with the cream. Let stand one minute, then stir until smooth. Add the corn syrup and butter. Let sit until room temperature.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2/3 cup Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.
Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Add the ganache mixture and mix until smooth. If you would like a fluffier frosting. Cool for an hour in the fridge then beat in stand mixer for 3-4 minutes. About 2 1/2 cups frosting.

Double the recipe for the 10" cake.

For the drips I made a ganache with one to one ration of chocolate to heavy cream. Heat 1 cup cream in microwave for 1-2 minutes. Add 8 oz chopped dark chocolate to the cream. Let sit for 5 minutes then whisk until smooth. Let cool until it is of proper dripping consistency. If it is too hot it will melt your frosting. You may need to add some cream, water or half and half to get it to drip but not run. I am calling the drips on my latest cake "baroque candle drips."

Big Birthday Planning - and a Sparkling Cake

My best friend of 50 years turned 60 in June. We had the best time planning her party and especially the cake that would adorn the festivities. She has a sparkly personality and loves all things that glitter.

One of the touches that she added to the party was personalized wine glasses. Each person would have an etched wine glass with their name on it instead of a place card. I had so much fun with my handy Cricut and vinyl. This method works great when you want to etch on glass.

We wanted sparkles on the cake so we purchased a rhinestone cake topper with her first initial along with a rhinestone wrap for a middle fake cake layer. I got to work on making a bunch of little flowers for a hydrangea topper. It was my first attempt at this flower. I put 5 flowers to a bunch and made each floret up of three bunches. They were inserted into a fondant covered topper. The frosting was a very light pink on the bottom and white on the top, smoothed to within and inch of its life.  I think the cake came out they way she wanted it to.

The party was a resounding success! We even had a star sighting when Mila Kunis peeked into the private room looking for her party. Happy 60th to my BFF. Can't believe it's been 50 years since we met as next door neighbors.