Bake Bake: Chocolate Birthday Cake

Over the years I've made a few cakes for various birthdays and related occasions. For the most part I tend to like the classic vanilla cake with chocolate frosting combination, but for this latest baking endeavor I was asked to make a chocolate cake. Challenge accepted.

The recipe I used was based on a pound cake recipe you can find on the back of the Swan's Down cake flour box. I went with this recipe because it called for a decent amount of whipping cream, which I had leftover from a previous adventure and needed to use up.


To start things off, I sifted the cake flour, three cups of it.


Once I did that, it was time to cream the butter and sugar. With three sticks of butter and three cups of sugar, this recipe makes a lot of thick batter, so I definitely recommend using an electric mixer for this one.


Once the butter and sugar has been creamed, it's time to add six eggs. Add them one at a time, beating the batter after each new egg.


Once you've added the eggs, add the flour in batches.


Between each addition of flour, add some of the whipping cream, until you've eventually added one cup.


Next, add about 1/2-1 tsp vanilla, depending on your preferences.


If you're making a traditional vanilla pound cake, this is where your batter journey ends. Since I was making a chocolate cake, however, I added about 1/4-1/2 cup powdered cocoa, Hershey's Special Dark to be specific.


After all that I wound up with this. If you have a tube pan, use that. I don't so I made this a two-pan affair, splitting the batter between two 9" round pans. I love the challenge of making layered cakes anyway, so I didn't mind dividing it up. In the original recipe you bake it at 350 for about an hour and fifteen minutes, but since I had divided the batter in half it cooked through in about 40 minutes.


While the cakes were baking, I went about making the filling that would go between the two layers. I prepared some whipping cream, probably about 1/2 cup or so, then added some powdered sugar and vanilla extract to give it a little more flavor.


Then I made the glaze, which combined powdered 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 2 tablespoons whipping cream, and vanilla extract. Like the cake recipe itself, this was a vanilla glaze, but I added about 1/4-1/2 cup cocoa powder to make it a chocolate glaze. I also added more whipping cream to give it a creamier consistency.


Once the cakes were finished I put them in the freezer to cool them. I then cut off the top of the bottom cake to make a smooth surface for the filling.


Taking the bottom cake, I covered it with the whipped cream filling and covered it with the top cake. I noticed that it bore an uncanny resemblance to a whoopie pie, a classic New England dessert. Maybe I'm subliminally homesick.


Finally, I took the glaze and poured it over the cake, using a spatula to spread it evenly around the cake.

And here we are:


I have to admit, this is one of the best-looking cakes I've made. My desserts have never exactly been beauties, though taste has always been more important than looks to me. Still, it's satisfying to have a cake that's easy on the eyes as well as the taste buds.

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