The Panacea of Chocolate Cake

All three of my children have their birthdays within 30 days of each other. That’s a whole lot of cake going on. Not just cake—but chocolate cake. I didn’t really see a trend in the constant making of chocolate birthday cakes until I went back and looked at photos. The cakes are always a two-layer round cake with chocolate frosting and usually with sprinkles. Martha Stewart calls sprinkles jimmies. I don’t like that name. I like calling them by their action. After all, you sprinkle them on a cake. You don’t jimmy them onto a cake. Whatever.

I didn’t quite realize where my obsession with double chocolate layer cakes with sprinkles came from until I ran across this photo circa 1979. Obviously like mother, like daughter. So there, I blame my mom for my obsession with chocolate cakes. Would I ever buy a chocolate cake for my kids birthday? No. Yes, my kids beg every year to have a store bought cake with airbrushed icing and cheap poncho-give-away toys littered across the top. But those just aren’t good eats. Not to mention, I like telling my kids no. I like to foster that spirit of deprivation among them. Someday they’ll be sitting in a college dorm room talking amongst their peers explaining how their cheap mother would never buy them a pretty cake. Actually, I secretly hope they’ll defend my cakes. Oh sure, they may not be the best looking, but they are the best tasting. Hands down. So here’s my recipe for chocolate cake. I think I have perfected it for the high altitude at which I live. Just to prove how picky I am about baking I use the cake recipe from one book and the frosting recipe from another. Sweet indulgence.

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake (from The New Best Recipe by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated)
1 ¼ cups (6.25 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour (use 6.8 oz if you live at high altitude)
12 tablspoons (1 ½ sticks) unalted butter, softened but still cool
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ teaspoon baking soda (decrease by 1/8 tsp if you live at altitude)
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup Hershey’ cocoa
2 teaspoons instant espresso or coffee powder
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 8-inch round cake pans with Pam. Line the bottoms with parchment paper and spray again.
Beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and shiny, 30 seconds. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar; beat until mixture is fluffy and almost white, 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating 1 full minute after each addition.
Whish the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa, and coffee in a medium bowl. Combine the milk and vanilla in a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer at the lowest speed, add about a third of the dry ingredients to the batter, followed immediately by about a third of the milk mixture; mix until the ingredients are almost incorporated in to the batter. Repeat the process two more times. When the batter appears blended, stop the mixer an scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Return the mixer to low speed; beat until the batter looks satiny, about 15 second longer.
Pour into pans and bake 23-30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in pan and then remove to cooling racks.

Soft and Creamy Chocolate Frosting (from CookSmart by Pam Anderson)
½ cup egg substitute (Egg Beaters)
½ cup cocoa powder
½ teaspoon instant coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick soften butter
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
3 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons light corn syrup
Mix the egg substitute, coffee, vanilla, and slat in a small bowl. Beat the butter in a bowl with a hand mixer. Add the melted chocolate and cocoa mixture. Beat until mixed. Add the sugar and mix. Add the corn syrup and beat until fluffy and glossy.