I've always been slightly wary of piping, it's always seemed daunting to me, but I decided it was time to give it a try. My tip: try it with the same icing that's on the cake. I messed up the first time or two and just wiped it off and started again. I used one of the little icing kits you pick up at the supermarket. I used the larger star tip for the border and the plain tip for the letters. I think that icing consistency was pretty important. Mine was pretty light because the whipped butter was holding it together more than just adding powdered sugar.
Our friend requested a chocolate cake for his birthday, and I delivered. Devil's Food Cake with chocolate icing coming up.
Devi'ls Food Cake
(adapted from Baking: Illustrated)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, butter and flour 3 8-inch round cake pans, line with parchment.
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate broken into pieces
1/4 cup of cocoa
Prepare an espresso and add enough boiled water to make 1 1/4 cups
Put chocolate and cocoa in a bowl, pour water and espresso over and whisk until smooth.
1 1/2 cups of sifted all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Sift flour, soda and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
2 sticks of softened, unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat butter until creamy, add brown sugar and continue blending. Add eggs one at a time, blend until smooth. Add Greek yogurt and vanilla and blend until smooth.
Add 1/3 of flour mixture to butter mixture, blend, add 1/2 of chocolate mixture and blend, repeat until all ingredients are blended.
Divide batter evenly between 3 pans, bake for 20-23 minutes.
Our friend requested a chocolate cake for his birthday, and I delivered. Devil's Food Cake with chocolate icing coming up.
Devi'ls Food Cake
(adapted from Baking: Illustrated)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, butter and flour 3 8-inch round cake pans, line with parchment.
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate broken into pieces
1/4 cup of cocoa
Prepare an espresso and add enough boiled water to make 1 1/4 cups
Put chocolate and cocoa in a bowl, pour water and espresso over and whisk until smooth.
1 1/2 cups of sifted all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Sift flour, soda and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
2 sticks of softened, unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat butter until creamy, add brown sugar and continue blending. Add eggs one at a time, blend until smooth. Add Greek yogurt and vanilla and blend until smooth.
Add 1/3 of flour mixture to butter mixture, blend, add 1/2 of chocolate mixture and blend, repeat until all ingredients are blended.
Divide batter evenly between 3 pans, bake for 20-23 minutes.
Chocolate Icing:
2 sticks butter (softened and whipped until lighter in color)
2 cups of sifted, powdered sugar
3 tablespoons of buttermilk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
Not bad for my first time with icing letters.
And it tasted great, the cake was almost brownie-like and the frosting wasn't overly sweet.
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