Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Since my biscotti recipe yesterday was a complete fail, I needed to make another recipe today. I was looking through my cookbooks and chose this recipe because of my childhood memories of homemade birthday cakes that were very similar to this one. I'm also really excited to make a layer cake because my cake pans have been missing for over a year, and I finally found them hidden in a back corner a week ago. Also the focus on my camera seems to be messed up, so please bear with me while I get that figured out.

 

After I added all of the ingredients, the batter was very silky and smooth. I divided the batter among the cake pans and put them in the oven. I didn't turn the cakes halfway through because I went to open the oven door, and the cakes looked like they were in their iffy 'If you touch me or even breathe on me, I'm going to fall' stage. But they turned out well without that anyways.

This icing IS SO GOOD. For real. I ate about a ton of it while icing the cake. That's probably why there isn't a lot of filling in the middle of the cake along with the fact that I was afraid that I would run out of icing. HAH, I had SO MUCH ICING left over, it was ridiculous. 

Also, a tip I learned is that when you're icing a cake, place pieces of parchment paper under it so that the icing doesn't get on the cake dome or plate, although I managed to do both even with the paper!

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes one 9 inch layer cake

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature plus more for cake pans
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour plus more for cake pans
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups milk

Dark Chocolate Frosting

• 16 ounces semisweet chocolate morsels
• 6 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons boiling water
• 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• pinch of salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans; line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter parchment, and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside. Into a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined after each addition.
• Divide batter between the prepared pans, and smooth with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until cakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto the rack; peel off the parchment. Reinvert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.
• Place chocolate in a double boiler or heatproof bowl over simmering water. Turn off the heat; stir occasionally until chocolate was melted completely, about 15 minutes. Set bowl on counter top, and let chocolate cool to room temperature, about 25-30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine cocoa powder and boiling water in a small bowl; stir until cocoa is dissolved.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, powdered sugar, and salt on medium-high until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add melted chocolate; beat on low speed until combined, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the cocoa mixture, then frost your cake!
• Use 3/4 cup of icing or more in the middle of the cake, then use the rest of the icing for the sides and top. Cake can be put in fridge, covered, for up to three days.