Chocolate Cake

This is another surprise cake on my husband(Raj) b'day. Elegant Chocolate Cake with simple buttercream frosting. Glazed Chocolate Ganache also used to decorate cake recipe below in notes.


Time: 1 hr (Preperation + Baking)
Serve: 10 - 12

Ingredients:


3/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
salt to taste(about 1/4 tsp)





Method:


1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 8' round cake pan, dust with cocoa flour or line with wax/ parchment paper.


2. Sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt. Keep aside.


3. With electric hand mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 


4. Add one egg at a time, beating well and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat with vanilla essence.


5. Now add cocoa flour mixture in batches into butter sugar mixture. Mix/ whisk well with rubber spatula or electric hand mixture on low speed.

6. Pour the batter into prepared pan. Tap pan firmly on kitchen counter once to eliminate air bubbles. 

7. Bake for 30-35 minutes until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 min. Invert on cooling rack and let it cool completely.


8. Garnish with Glazed Chocolate Ganache(see note) or Butter-cream Frosting(recipe below).

Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Total time: 5 mins
Serves: 2.5 cups


Classic American Buttercream frosting. This recipe uses powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and milk. This is a great recipe for decorating and piping on cupcakes and cake.


Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3-4 cups confectioners(powdered) sugar, SIFTED
1 tbsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp milk or heavy cream
salt to taste


Method:


1. Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with hand mixture.


2. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. 


3. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tbsp of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. 


4. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tbsp at a time.

Note:
1. To make Glazed Chocolate Genache, melt 4 oz chocolate in microwave safe bowl in microwave. In non stick pan, add 1/2 cup heavy cream and bring to bowl add melted chocolate, mix well. Let it cool until thick yet purable consistency 2/3 minutes. Pour on cake and let it run. Spread using offset spatula. Set aside to cool.