If this seems weirdly out of season, it’s because it is. If you look at the time stamps on this site, it’ll become very clear that I am erratic at best on when I post — and a lot of that has to do with my own personal incompetence, but also because I never knew why I had this site to begin with. Who is it for? What do I hope to achieve? All good questions for life and frivolous “recipe blogs”, though applying that label to hellokelinda.com is rather generous.
The long identity crisis may be finally over, though, as I find myself wishing more and more that I had some sort of archive by which to track my own favorite past creations, be it a towering cake or cozy stew. So who is this for? Me. Or more specifically, Future Me.
So, Future Me, take a stroll down memory lane with this ambitious cake you made back in December of 2020. You shared a photo of this thing with your mother, who promptly accused you of lying about the fact that you made it, which is both flattering and concerning.
About the cake itself: It is an intensely chocolate-y cake, and I am always on the search for another way to make an intensely chocolate-y cake. It is filled with ganache and chocolate buttercream and a thin layer of caramel. You can’t eat more than one slice of this thing at a time because it’s so rich, but it freezes beautifully. Slice into thin portions and wrap individually in packets of foil for months of decadence to come.
About the decoration: The glaze is a white chocolate glaze, which was runnier than I wanted, so I won’t bother sharing any more details on it here. The trees are piped meringue, and though they did hold up, were also fantastically structurally unsound. That said, I love this meringue recipe because it colors and pipes remarkably well, and also tastes good! But should I ever attempt to do meringue trees again, I will try a different assembly technique. The little house is a sturdy sugar cookie, held together with caramel and royal icing details like the door and icicles. All of that is then dusted with powdered sugar for a truly magical effect.
Extra Devilish Food Cake
Equipment
- 2 round 9" cake pans
Materials
Chocolate Cake
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (250 g)
- 4 1/2 tbs cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/4 cups cocoa powder (115 g)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 3/4 cups sugar (550 g)
- 5 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups full-fat buttermilk
Caramel Filling
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 vanilla bean seeds scraped out and pod discarded
- 1 1/4 cups sugar (250 g)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbs light corn syrup
- 3/4 tsp lemon juice
- 4 tbs unsalted butter chilled
Chocolate Ganache Filling and Frosting
- 32 oz bittersweet chocolate
- 4 cups heavy cream
Chocolate Buttercream
- 16 oz bittersweet chocolate
- 12 oz semisweet chocolate
- 5 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups sugar (300 g)
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 3 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tsp instant espresso powder
- 1 1/2 tsp hot water
Instructions
Make the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and move rack to upper third. Grease and line two 9″ cake pans.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy on medium-high. This usually takes about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom.
- With the mixer on medium-low, add the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the sides and bottom again.
- Turn the mixer to low and add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the whole milk. Begin and end with the flour mixture.
- When the last of the flour has been added and incorporated, scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixer bowl one more time. Beat on medium for about 20 seconds to fully mix everything.
- Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean in the center. Cool the cakes completely in their pans on a rack before flipping them out.
- If you’re making the cakes ahead of time, wrap them in cling film after they’ve cooled and store in an airtight Ziploc bag in the fridge until assembly time.
Make the Caramel:
- Combine the heavy cream and seeds scraped from the vanilla bean pod in a small saucepan. Bring to just below a boil, then turn the heat to low just to keep it warm.
- While the cream is being kept warm, dissolve the sugar, water, salt, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
- When the mixture begins to boil, stop stirring. Let it continue to boil untouched until it turns amber in color, which will take about 5 minutes. Remove it from the heat immediately.
- Add the warm heavy cream in a steady stream to the syrup. It will boil up dramatically, so don't put your face too close to it! Once it settles down, whisk until it's all smooth.
- Add the lemon juice, then look it cool for 10 minutes.
- Add the butter one tablespoon at a time into the caramel, whisking to thoroughly incorporate each piece before adding the next one.
- Let cool in an airtight container with a piece of cling film pressed to the surface to prevent a skin from forming. You can store this in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
Make the Ganache:
- Break the chocolate up into small pieces if you're not using chocolate chips or chunks. Place them into a medium heatproof bowl.
- Warm the cream in a microwave or on the stove top until it is just under a boil.
- Pour the cream over the chocolate. Stir once to get the cream touching the chocolate. Let this sit for about 5 minutes to melt the chocolate.
- Stir with a rubber spatula until all the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth.
- Let the ganache cool completely. It will thicken as it does.
Make the Chocolate Buttercream:
- Combine the espresso powder and hot water together. Set aside.
- Break the chocolate up into small pieces if you're not using chocolate chips or chunks. Place them into a medium heatproof bowl.
- Stir it over a pot of simmering water until all the chocolate is melted.
- Put egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt into a large mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk constantly until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture loosens and warms up to 160°F.
- Pour the egg mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high until there’s no more heat escaping out of the top and the mixer bowl feels barely warm. This usually takes my mixer anywhere from 10-30 minutes.
- Once the bowl has cooled and your meringue is holding glossy stiff peaks, switch to a paddle attachment. With the mixer on medium-low, add the butter in one tablespoon at a time, allowing each addition to incorporate into the meringue before adding the next.
- When all the butter has been added and incorporated, add the melted chocolate, vanilla, and espresso. Beat on medium for about 2 minutes, stopping the mixer to carefully scrape the sides of the bowl down at least once during the process. Your buttercream is now ready to use!
ASSEMBLY:
- Slice each cake in two to form two layers.
- Place one layer on your cake board.
- Spread a thin layer of caramel over the slice.
- Spread a 1/4" layer of ganache on top of the caramel.
- Spread a 1/4" layer of chocolate buttercream on top of the ganache.
- Stack with the next slice of cake. Repeat steps 3-6 for the remaining layers except the last.
- Frost the outside of the cake with a thin layer of ganache, filling in the gaps between the layers.
- Chill the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Use the remaining ganache to frost the cake.
- Decorate as you will!
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