Happy Friday! Last week I shared the brown butter banana cake I made for my birthday and today I’m sharing the second cake I made to celebrate. I mulled over the decision of what kind of cake to make for far too long. It’s rare that I have the opportunity to make a layer cake so it always feels like I need to pick exactly the right cake for the occasion. In the end, there were too many options and no one that stood out as the clear winner, so I called my mom and had she and my step-dad decide. They requested chocolate cake, and I went from there.
The chocolate cake was wonderful – moist and light, but still sturdy, with a wonderfully fudgy chocolate flavor. It retained its lovely texture even when refrigerated. The recipe, which comes from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes, was developed to be used as part of a German chocolate cake recipe and the addition of the unbeaten egg whites to the batter accounts for the cake’s terrific structure. For the frosting, I had originally planned to go with a cream cheese frosting, which is always a popular choice at my house, but at the last minute I saw a recipe for white chocolate cream cheese frosting that intrigued me. I only had enough white chocolate on hand to make 2/3 of the recipe below and it really wasn’t quite enough to frost my cake (and I had none left over to decorate the top of the cake) so I recommend making the full recipe. The frosting is sweet but also tangy and I thought it complemented the cake nicely. As I was making the cake I noticed a few strawberries in my fridge that needed to be used so I sliced them up and stuck them between the layers of the cake. They were a fantastic addition – adding much more strawberry flavor than I expected! The only thing I’d do differently next time would be to cut them a bit smaller. Otherwise, this was a wonderful birthday treat and definitely something I’d make again!
Chocolate Cake
from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum
2.3 oz (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) Dutch process cocoa powder
4.2 oz (1/2 cup) boiling water
3.7 oz (1/2 cup) canola oil
2.6 oz (1/4 cup) egg yolks (about 4 eggs), at room temperature
6.3 oz (3/4 cup) egg whites (about 4 eggs plus 2 whites), at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2.6 oz (3/4 cup) cake flour
2.6 oz (2/3 cup) all-purpose flour
10.6 oz (1 1/2 cups) superfine sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Grease the bottoms of two 9×2-inch round cake pans (leave the sides uncoated) and line with parchment rounds. Preheat oven to 350 F with a rack in the bottom third of the oven.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, use a whisk to combine the cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes so the mixture can come to room temperature. Add the oil and egg yolks to the mixer bowl and beat with the whisk attachment, starting on low speed and then increasing to medium. Beat on medium for 1 minute or until shiny and smooth. Beat in the vanilla for a few seconds.
In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift half of this mixture into the chocolate mixture in the stand mixer’s bowl and then beat on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then repeat with the other half of the dry ingredients. Raise the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl – the mixture will be very thick. On low speed, add the egg whites and beat at medium-high speed for 2 minutes.
Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pans. Each pan will hold about 17.5 oz of batter and be one-quarter full. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centers come out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and immediately run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pans and the cakes. Invert the cakes onto wire cooling racks that have been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Remove the parchment from the bottom of the cakes and then invert them onto the racks so they are right side up. Cool completely.
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott (as seen on A Whisk and a Spoon)
To assemble the cake, transfer one of the cake layers to a cake platter (or plate or cardboard circle) right side up. Spread about a 1/4-inch thick layer of white chocolate cream cheese frosting on top of the cake. Layer with fresh strawberry slices. Place the second cake on top of the frosting and berries, with the flat side (the bottom) up, and press gently. If you want to crumb coat the cake to seal it, frost the entire cake with a thin layer of the frosting and then refrigerate to set. Once set, apply a second layer of frosting on top of the first to cover the cake completely. Garnish as desired. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Mmmmmm….. yummy!!!
haha i like how you bake yourself a cake to celebrate your own birthday.looks delicious!
This looks so, so beautiful! I love cream cheese frostings and combined with chocolate it’s perfect! 🙂 And I think you might be interested to check out my post about raw chocolate: http://petitcuisinier-solange.blogspot.com/2010/02/raw-chocolate-revolution.html
Wow! Fabulous looking cake!
This cake looks perfect!!! YUM!
I wish I had time to make these today.
Stop by. I am having a giveaway.
http://sweetsav.blogspot.com/2010/03/paula-deen-skillets-yes-giveaway.html
Happy belated birthday – so glad you made yourself something delicious. I’m going to have to start that tradition this year.
yummy cake and the addition of strawberries makes it even more tempting 🙂
Beautiful cake! My hubby’s birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and he loves strawberries and cream cheese. This is a great birthday cake idea for him!
Happy birthday! It looks amazing.
That looks de-lish! Love the strawberry red peeking through there.
lovely Birthday Cake, Tracey. I love making my own because i have control. FREAKYYY!!
I will have to try your version with the layers of strawberries. Yummy!
Just bought this book but haven’t had a chance to try anything yet. Now I know where to start :). White chocolate cream cheese frosting sounds amazing.
Looks like a fine way to celebrate! I love the strawberries against that white icing, so pretty.
A second happy birthday wish to you! Now THIS is a delightful cake! Perfect for a birthday… I love dutch-processed cakes. So dark and delicious – what a great choice. The strawberries work perfectly with the white icing and dark cake!
Looks great! I am going to bookmark this recipe and try it for my husband’s birthday in May. He loves chocolate cake and white icing. YUM!
Wow does this look delicious. How can you go wrong with strawberries? Yum!
This looks fabulous. Chocolate and strawberries…soo good!
Happy (belated) birthday, Tracey! The cake looks terrific. I’ll have to try that one. I’ve had problems with both of the recipes I’ve made from RHC so far, but not sure how much of that is my fault. Did you actually use superfine sugar? That may be part of my problem. I was lazy and just used regular granulated sugar.
Yum! My birthday is later this week, and I sure wouldn’t mind if someone made me this! haha
This looks absolutely delicious. I loved that you put strawberries in between the layers of the cake. This would definitely a hit. Thanks for sharing and Happy Birthday.
What a beauty of a cake 🙂
Delicious looking and I like Rose’s recipes too.
Joyce
Lovely cake Tracey. looks so yum. I want to make it for my sister birthday too. and this was just the perfect combination i had in mind. i followed u all the way from tastespotting. I just had some questions before attempting the cake:
Any specific brand of cocoa to be used?Can i use Cadbury’s Cocoa Powder.
What brand of cream cheese should i use. In my place we have lots of brands of cream cheese spreads like krafts, philly, puck etc. is it the same one?
can i use normal sugar instead of conf. sugar.
have u ever home made cake flour using the substitution method . is the end result any different?
thanx and regards,
salma
@Salma – Sorry it’s taken me a few days to get back to you. Thanks for your kind words 🙂
Some thoughts on your questions:
-It’s not important to use a particular brand of cocoa, just make sure it’s Dutch process (which just means treated with an alkali to neutralize its acids.
-I usually use Philadelphia cream cheese with good results, so I recommend it
-You can’t substitute regular sugar for the confectioners’ sugar in the frosting. They’re quite different. Do you have access to powdered sugar?
-I have made cake flour using the substitution often suggested and haven’t had any issues.
Thanx a lot Tracey. I can go ahead with the cake now. will let u know the result.
Keep up the good work.
Regards,
Salma
I made this cake for my sons birthday and it was wonderful. Easy to make and really moist. Everyone loved it. Thanks!
Claire