It’s chocolate cake month here at Project Pastry Love. I have been making chocolate cakes over and over and over again, and then I make one more. They have all been coming out good every time… but not great. One afternoon I decided to sprinkle salt over my chocolate cake slice, and wham! I cracked the code! I immediately called my mom and told her the big news. Next, I called my husband and exclaimed, “I salted my chocolate cake slice, and it was amazing!”. Neither one of these individuals were as enthused as I, but who cares?! I just invented the wheel! I’m a baking pioneer! Well, it turns out I’m not. I Googled “salted chocolate cake” just to make sure that my idea was unique, and there were about 10 other recipes for salted chocolate cake.
Google is a big, ol’ buzzkill. I’ll just leave it at that.
Okay, let’s do this. I found that the best textured, and best tasting chocolate cake (just the cake part, and not the frosting) was Ina Garten’s famous recipe Beatty’s Chocolate Cake. It’s moist (I’m sorry), it’s tender, it’s sweet enough, and has good height in an 8-inch cake pan. For the frosting I did a chocolate variation on My Favorite American Buttercream. There are three ingredients to my chocolate buttercream that I’ll never substitute, or leave out: Land 0′ Lakes salted butter, Droste Cocoa Powder, and a half tablespoon of instant espresso powder.
Okay, so you’ve baked and leveled the cakes, and made the chocolate buttercream, and now you’re ready to beautify it. Smooth about 3/4 cup of buttercream onto the top of one cake. Like this…
Sandwich the filling with the other leveled cake. Be sure to have the cut side facing down.
Next, crumb coat the top and sides with a thin coating of buttercream. Then place the cake in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Those crumbs are locked in thanks to the chilled frosting.
Now frost that baby any which way you’d like.
Finally, sprinkle sea salt all around the top perimeter of the cake. Enjoy!
Notes
Special equipment needed: Two 8-inch round cake pans, parchment paper, bowl connected to standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, off set spatula, rubber spatula, wire wracks, rotating cake stand, 8-inch cake board (optional), piping bags and tips (optional).
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake
- 1 and 3/4 cup (219 g) All Purpose Flour
- 2 cups (400 g) Sugar
- 3/4 cup (85 g) Cocoa Powder
- 2 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1 tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 1 cup Buttermilk, shaken and at room temperature)
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 Large Eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Hot Coffee
For the Chocolate Buttercream
- 3 sticks (339 g) Salted Butter, at room temperature (67 degrees F)
- 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
- 1/2 TBS Instant Espresso Powder
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 3/4 cup (85 g) Cocoa Powder
- 3 to 4 cups (375 g to 500 g) Powdered Sugar, sifted
For assembly:
- Sea Salt
Instructions
To make the Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease two 8-inch, round cake pans, line with parchment and then grease the parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Using a rubber spatula, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until combined.
- Slowly pour in the hot coffee while stirring until the coffee is completely absorbed and incorporated.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The cakes are done when it springs back when it is lightly touched, an inserted toothpick comes out clean from the center, or when the internal temperature reaches 205 degrees F.
- Place baked cakes (still in pans) on a wire rack and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
- Gently extract the cakes from their pans, and set aside to cool completely.
- When ready, level each cake, and then get on with the buttercream.
To make the Chocolate Buttercream
- In a small bowl, stir together the heavy cream, instant espresso powder, and vanilla extract.
- Place the three sticks of softened butter in a bowl connected to a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-speed for 5 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then pour in the heavy cream mixture. Mix for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add in the cocoa powder and mix slowly until it becomes incorporated, then mix at medium speed for 30 seconds.
- Add in a cup of powdered sugar at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each cup.
- Once you've reached your desired consistency then hand mix a little more to be sure that all of the powdered sugar has been incorporated.
To assemble
- Place an 8-inch cake board on a cake stand, or cake turntable, and then place one of the leveled cakes on top of that (cut side up).
- Smooth on about 3/4 cup of chocolate buttercream on top of the cake.
- Sandwich the buttercream filling with the other cake layer. Be sure to place it cut side down.
- Frost a thin layer of buttercream all over the cake to lock in the loose crumbs (crumb coat), and then place the cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.
- When ready, frost the cake with the remaining buttercream.
- Finally, sprinkle the top perimeter of the cake with sea salt.
- Enjoy!
