I have this friend. She’s a wise and confident woman with many an opinion. Her view, articulated through crystal clear lenses, is always witty and makes me laugh (and think!). More than once she has managed to fit a crutch under me and uphold me as only a true girlfriend would do. I appreciate and love her more than words can say.
So how could I not fulfill her request when she sent me a link last spring, to a cake she suggested I make? For her. Oh, did I forget to mention she can also be quite audacious?! ;-)
Angela’s birthday seemed the perfect time to make this cake for her. So last summer I brought it to a little celebration in her honor, where a small group of girlfriends gathered on the patio to enjoy a beautiful Minnesota summer’s evening. Girlfriends, summer, tasty nibbles, wine, and a gorgeous layered cake…what more can a girl ask for?!
The original cake recipe comes from Food & Wine magazine, and featured a cinnamon sponge cake. I thought the cake was good, but not exactly memorable. The frosting, on the other hand, was pure heaven. I have dreamt of that magnificent buttercream slathered over a deep dark chocolate cake ever since. So that’s what I did!
This Dark Chocolate Cake with Chile-Chocolate Buttercream is a layer cake to remember, for sure. At its core are two layers of that deliciously famous “Beatty’s Chocolate Cake”, found in Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa at Home. The cake is deep, dark, and super moist, and topped with some of the most wonderful buttercream I’ve ever set my fork to. The frosting’s silky sweetness is complex, offset by the warmth of chiles and cinnamon. I love it!
Although this cake would be spectacular served any time of year, I think it would a great addition to an upcoming Cinco de Mayo party. Let me know if you celebrate with it!
Dark Chocolate Cake with Chile-Chocolate Buttercream
Ingredients
Cake
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the pans
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Morton kosher salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Buttercream
- 2½ cups (5 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 pound powdered sugar, sifted
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for dusting the finished cake
- 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
- 5 ounces white chocolate baking bar (not chips), melted and cooled
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter two 9'' round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
- Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
- In a small bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
- With mixer on low speed, slowly add wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, slowly and carefully add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 30 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Buttercream
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter until creamy.
- At low speed, beat in powdered sugar. Increase speed to high and beat until fluffy, scraping down the side of the bowl, about 2 minutes longer.
- At low speed, beat in cream, vanilla, cinnamon, ancho chile powder and cayenne, then gradually beat in the cooled bittersweet and white chocolate.
- Scrape down the side of the bowl and the paddle, increase speed to medium-high and beat until light, 3 minutes longer. Then use a wooden spoon to vigorously beat the buttercream for 30 seconds, to deflate any air bubbles.
Assembly
- Place one cake layer, flat side up, on a plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with almost 2 cups of the frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the remaining frosting onto the top and sides of the cake. (There is plenty of frosting and I've never used all of it.)
- Dust the top of the cake very lightly with additional cinnamon. So pretty!
- Refrigerate the finished cake for at least 30 minutes before slicing. If the cake has been fully refrigerated (several hours or overnight) prior to serving, be sure to bring it to room temperature before serving (to soften the buttercream a bit), which can take 30 minutes or more.
- This cake can easily be made the day prior to serving it and any leftover cake keeps well when covered and refrigerated.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
We are also celebrating a little birthday of our own here, completely honored and awed with the fact that a farmgirl’s dabbles will be TWO YEARS OLD in just a few days. Wow!
We are so very thankful to all of you for reading and connecting with us, and sharing in all the yumminess. Thank you SO MUCH for joining us here!
I’d buy some attachments for my new mixer!
I would get an immersion blender from Amazon.com
Facebooked.https://www.facebook.com/tcarolinep/posts/429360577078184
I’d get baking dishes from Amazon.
I wish I had a piece of this in front of me right now, looks delish!
Make the Scene Monday @ Alderberry Hill
Alderberryhill.blogspot.com
Oh yum, I love chile with chocolate – the pairing is divine!
What a fun giveaway, and congratulations on your blog anniversary. I could pick up some new baking supplies or cookbooks, I think!
This cake and frosting combination is amazing. We were able to partake of a slice or two over Easter weekend and loved it. A good chocolate cake is always a favorite of mine, but the frosting with it’s fluffy texture and hint of spice was an added plus.
Congratulations, dear Brenda, on the second anniversary of your blog. It just keeps getting better and better. Love you tons!
I follow on facebook as Patricia Wojnar Crowley and shared!
https://www.facebook.com/#!/permalink.php?story_fbid=198612023591039&id=1057899883
I would use the gift card for some new madeleine pans!
I would buy some new cookbooks or some new tools for my Zoku Quick Pop Maker!
Happy Blogabirthday!!
I have been needing a really good all-purpose knife! I would put it towards that!
I would definitely put this towards my Kitchenaid Mixer fund.
I liked you on Facebook!
I now follow you on Twitter!
I tweeted about the giveaway!
https://www.facebook.com/#!/OriginalCookieMomster – I shared the Giveaway on my Facebook page!
I would shop at Williams and Sonoma! I am a gadget junkie and they have the best! Thanks for the chance at the Giveaway!
Great giveaway! I think I would put a gift card toward a stand mixer – I can’t believe I’ve lived without one for this long!
I liked you on facebook and followed on twitter :) Thanks for the great contest and I love your blog!
Ooohhhh! That cake looks SO good! I’m wondering if I could get my husband to eat it, since it has the chili powder in it? (He _loves_ chilis of all sorts, but he claims not to like chocolate. Unbelievable, huh?) I just found your blog recently, and I love it. I check it every day! Not sure what I would buy with a gift certificate, though. I adore nearly everything I’ve ever seen in Williams-Sonoma and I don’t get to go nearly often enough, so I’d probably just go crazy… Hmmm. I’ve kinda been on a bread and cookies kick in the kitchen lately, so I’m guessing I’d end up with something at least vaguely related to that…