Monday, February 4, 2013

Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Filling and Chocolate Buttercream Icing


rich. Rich. RICH!  That's exactly what this cake is.  I wanted to make a chocolately-sweet dessert for a Superbowl party I attended last night and this was just the ticket.  I tried out a new chocolate cake recipe and didn't have a whole lot of success.


The first two layers weren't quite done enough and the third was too done!  I was able to salvage one of these layers and then resorted to my tried and true devil's food cake recipe for the rest.

I kind of like the two-tone chocolate look!  The failed chocolate cake recipe tasted delicious so I am most definitely going to try to master it again at some point, but until I do, I will just leave you with my go-to chocolate cake recipe courtesy of The Cake Mix Doctor!  I also adjusted the icing recipes to match that of a 2-layer cake.  The cream cheese icing recipe is from my recipe book and the chocolate buttercream icing is by Savory Sweet Life.  Happy baking!

Ingredients:

for the cake--
1 package plain devil's food cake mix
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

for the cream cheese filling--
1 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

for the chocolate buttercream icing--
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 tablespoons milk

garnish (optional)--
Ghiradelli white chocolate baking bar

Instructions:

for the cake--
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 2 8-inch round cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, cocoa powder, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla and blend with an electric mixer until well combined.  Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake until the cakes spring back when touched lightly with your fingers--about 28-30 minutes  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then release the cakes from the pans to cool completely.  **I think it's easier to level cake layers while they are warm so do this sometime during the cooling process using a sharp serrated knife.

for the cream cheese filling--
Cream together the cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.  Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and mix well.  Add the vanilla and continue to mix for about 5 minutes.

for the chocolate buttercream icing--
Cream the butter in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.  Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder in half cup intervals with the mixer on low.  When these ingredients are well combined, add the vanilla extract, salt, and milk.  Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 3 minutes.  (You can add more milk if you want a thinner consistency.)

assembly--
Place the first cake layer upside down on a cardboard cake round.  Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture on top.  Place the second layer upside down on top of this.  Generously ice the entire cake with the chocolate buttercream icing.  Use a vegetable peeler to make the white chocolate shavings and garnish to your heart's content!