Two 9-inch round cake pans,
greased and bottoms lined with greased parchment paper circles
Cake:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup lightly packed premium unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa
3/4 cup boiling water
3/4 cup full-fat sour cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 egg yolks
3 eggs
Raspberry cream cheese frosting:
1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter, softened
8oz cream cheese (1 package), softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup raspberry preserves (recommend Smuckers)
Pinch of salt
To make the cake:
Center an oven rack and
preheat the oven to 350°F.
Put the unsweetened
chocolate and the cocoa into a small bowl. Pour the boiling water over the
chocolate and allow it to steep for 1 minute. Whisk the mixture together. Whisk
in the sour cream and vanilla. Set aside.
Sift together the flour,
baking soda, and salt in a bowl, then whisk the mixture by hand to ensure that
the ingredients are well mixed.
In the bowl of a stand
mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars
together on medium-high speed until light, about 3 minutes. As you make the
batter, stop the mixer frequently and scrape the paddle and the sides of the
bowl with a rubber spatula. On low speed, drizzle the oil into the mixture
until blended. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat until the batter
is fluffy, about 3 more minutes. Blend in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time,
adding the next one as soon as the previous one has disappeared into the
batter. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts,
alternating with the chocolate mixture in two parts, beginning and ending with
the flour. After each addition, mix until just barely blended and stop and
scrape the bowl. Stop the mixer before the last of the flour has been
incorporated and complete the blending by hand with a rubber spatula to ensure
you do not overbeat the batter.
Divide the thick batter
equally among the prepared pans. Smooth the tops and tap the pans on the counter to settle the batter
and eliminate any large air bubbles. Bake in the middle of the oven until the
centers spring back when lightly touched ~20-25 minutes. Cool the cakes in
their pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Flip the cakes out of the pans,
leaving on the parchment paper until you assemble the cake. Let them continue
to cool on the rack, top sides up, until they reach room temperature.
To make the frosting:
Cream the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the salt and vanilla. Add the raspberry preserves. Blend until smooth. Add the sugar, one cup at a time. Note: you can stop adding sugar at any time that you think the frosting is smooth/spreadable enough. I sometimes add more/less than 6 cups depending on the consistency. I don't like a super-sweet frosting so I try to get away with less if I can! Also, I recommended Smuckers raspberry preserves because it is a deep red color and makes the frosting a fun pink shade. Feel free to use any raspberry preserves just know that if you are using something that is more like a dull red color, you may not get the end pink color you desire.
To assemble the cake, lay
one of the cakes top side up on a cake plate. Using a metal spatula, frost the
top with 3/4 cup of frosting, spreading it out to the edge of the cake (the
filling will be about 1/4 inch thick). Stack the second cake top side up on top
of the frosted cake. Frost the top and sides of the entire cake using the rest of the frosting.
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