My Life as Donna Reed

So, I realize that I left everybody hanging on to my New York experience.  I apologize.  In case you didn't know, I'm home in Ohio and have been for some time now.  As you can guess, my move back was a bit hectic. But that's another post - which I promise will be appearing soon.  And it'll be a good one.

But this post is on a different subject matter.  I've had a lot of free time this summer and last week(ish) was my brother Clay's 17th birthday.  Now, I'm what you call... broke.  But I wanted to do something for him, because for whatever reason, we get along and I like him. Plus he was pretty clever with my last birthday gift; it consisted of solo cups, ping pong balls, a wine key, beer cozies, aspirin, and a snack.  21st birthday - cute right?  So I decided to bake him a cake... from scratch. Not only did I bake a cake but I did it a la Donna Reed, pearls and everything.


When I asked Clay what he wanted his only request was CHOCOLATE!  So I searched online to find the perfect chocolate cake recipe.  Do you know how many cake recipes are online?  Too many.  After looking at about 50 of them and ruling out anything remotely healthy a.k.a vegan, gluten-free, etc. I settled on this recipe for Chocolate Birthday Cake (meets all requirements.)  And I chose a Fluffy Chocolate Kahlua Frosting to top it off because I wanted a little more flavor.  What follows is my adventure in baking and a step by step guide to baking your own Chocolate Birthday Cake.




CHOCOLATE BIRTHDAY CAKE

4 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter - room temp
2 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
6 eggs - room temp
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 c buttermilk






Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease two 10" cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper.
* I used 9" which is what the original recipe called for but you will see why I changed it to 10".
 


Melt semi sweetened and unsweetened chocolate chunks in a double boiler. OR boil and inch or so of water in a sauce pan and melt the chocolate in a bowl on top of the saucepan (which is what I did).  Set aside and cool slightly.
*I think it stands to say that the better ingredients you use, the better the cake will taste ESPECIALLY the chocolate.  I used Ghirardelli.

Combine dry ingredients. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

Cream together the butter and sugar using a standing mixer with a paddle attachment.  Beat butter and sugar on med-high for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl with spatula to evenly incorporate the butter.

Add vanilla and eggs.  Pour eggs in one at a time on low, allowing each egg to be fully incorporated before adding the next.

Add the melted chocolate. Mix on low until combined.

Alternate additions of dry ingredients and buttermilk with the mixer on low until fully incorporated.  Finish mixing by hand with a sturdy spatula.



*I wanted to incorporate the Kahlua flavor into the actual cake, so I substituted part of the buttermilk for Kahlua.  I think substituting was a bad plan because the cake came out slightly dry.  You could probably just add 1/2 or 3/4 cup Kahlua or don't try to change the recipe unless you really know what your doing.  I did not know what I was doing.

Pour batter evenly into both pans.
*The original recipe says to run a paring knife through the batter in one smooth motion, one inch from the edge of the pan.  I have NO idea what this accomplishes.  I did it, but you probably don't have to.

Bake for 30 minutes.  Rotate pans and lower the temperature to 325 degrees.  Bake 25-30 more minutes.  And you guessed it, the cakes are done when you stick a wooden toothpick in it and it comes out clean.  And by clean I mean not gooey; it's okay for crumbs to be stuck to it.

Let cool 15 minutes before turning them out of the pans.

*At this point I would like to explain why I told you to use 10" pans and not 9".  When I filled the pans originally I thought they looked awful full but I have no idea what I'm doing so I just kept going.  At about the 30 minute mark I started to smell smoke.  That is not a good sign, especially when the cakes are only half-way through baking.  I opened the oven to discover that the cake had risen and ran over the pans, to drip onto the base of the oven.  Again, I did not put any foil down as a precaution to this.  The cake is nowhere near done cooking and I don't have another oven handy, so what am I supposed to do?  I let it burn.  Smoke was literally billowing out of the oven.  Surprisingly, our normally overzealous smoke detector was on the fritz that day, but we still had to open the windows and door in the kitchen.  I wish I had taken a picture, the entire downstairs was full of smoke.  Good times. Now onto icing.

FLUFFY CHOCOLATE KAHLUA FROSTING

2/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
6 Tbsp boiling water
2 Tbsp Kahlua
1/2 c (1 stick) butter - room temp
4 c confectioners' sugar - sifted
a dash of ground cinnamon

Combine the cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl and pour in the boiling water and Kahlua.  Stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the cocoa comes together into a soft mass

Add butter and blend with an electric mixer on low until soft and well combined (about 30 seconds).
*I could not find an electric mixer and had to combine by hand.  It was muy difficult and took forever. But it's doable.

Add confectioners' sugar and cinnamon. Beat with the mixer on low until sugar is incorporated (about 1 minute.)  Increase speed to medium and beat until frosting lightens and is fluffy (about 2 more minutes.)

You may have to play with water/Kahlua amounts.  This is a large cake and the frosting could use thinning out.  I think it could stand another tablespoon of Kahlua.

Finally, let the cake cool COMPLETELY before frosting.  This may involve putting it the fridge and leaving the house.  I am impatient and did not take my own advice.  I am completely aware that my frustration with cutting the excess cake and frosting said cake is a product of my own vice. 

Add candles and voila, a birthday cake!  I suggest making your party guests where paper birthday hats and eating off of matching plates and napkins.  I chose Transformers for Clay.

Everyone enjoys a party hat!

Happy Birthday Clay!