birthday cake
Birthdays, and every other milestone or accomplishment, are meant to be celebrated! Other than the occasional batch of cookies or throwing together an apple or blackberry crisp for dessert, we don’t make a ton of desserts throughout the year. Sugar is probably one of the best things to cut out of your diet health wise, so we do try to limit how much of it we eat. But like I said, birthdays are meant to be celebrated! So when my husband’s birthday rolls around in May, I’ll ask him what he wants for his birthday dessert. Sometimes he answers with chocolate chip cookies – because he’s an absolute chocolate chip cookie junkie – and I quickly tell him that’s not an acceptable answer. Your birthday dessert needs to be something that is special, takes a little effort, and you wouldn’t really make any other time of the year. Aside from chocolate chip cookies and apple pie, he does occasionally like a slice of chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. Because there are only two of us in our house, we’ll share pieces with our neighbor and wrap individual slices in seran wrap and put them in the freezer. This prevents us from having to eat a piece of cake every night for a week.
Chocolate cake is a pretty broad topic. I like what everyone else probably aim for in a chocolate cake – moist crumb and a deep chocolate flavor. I also prefer to make a layered cake because it just makes it feel extra special. Ina Garten has a great recipe for chocolate cake, so that’s the inspiration of this post. This is THE chocolate cake in my book. And the frosting recipe is a bit off a riff off a classic buttercream, thanks to the help and assistance of my pastry school cousin, Jenny. I hope you enjoy!
layered devil's food cake with vanilla buttercream frosting
Everyone has their go to chocolate cake recipe. After a few iterations, this one has become my favorite.
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 sticks (3/4 LB) butter, at room temperature
- 2 1/4 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 4 TSP vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup hot brewed coffee
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 TSP baking soda
- 1 TSP baking powder
- 1 1/2 TSP kosher salt
- 1 cup sour cream
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 2 sticks (1/2 LB) butter, at room temperature
- 2 TBSP cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 TSP vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease 2 9" round cake pans, line with parchment paper, then grease and flour. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. On low speed, add the eggs one at a time scrapping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the vanilla and beat until well mixed. Whisk the cocoa powder and hot brewed coffee together in a small bowl and slowly add this to the batter.
In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add half the flour mixture to the batter, then all the sour cream, then the remaining flour mixture. Fold the batter until it is well mixed and divide equally between the two prepared cake pans. Smooth the tops and place in the oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Pull it out a bit earlier than you think - you won't regret this. Cool the cakes in the pans for 30 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Once the cakes are cooled, you can make the frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese on medium high speed for 3 minutes. Add the vanilla. Then on low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar and a pinch of salt.
On a plate or cake pedestal, frost the top of the first cake. Then place the second cake on top and frost the top of that cake as well as the sides of the entire two tiered cake. You can double the frosting if you like more - this recipe doesn't result in a thick layer of frosting, but it seemed just right to us. Place the frosted cake in the refrigerator for at least an hour - the longer then better. When ready to serve, fill a bowl with hot tap water and using an offset spatula or knife, smooth out the frosted cake. Slice, serve, and enjoy!