Triple Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting

Rich. Indulgent. Guilty pleasure. We’ve all been down that road……and found a heavenly slice of chocolate cake on the other end! I’ve always been intimidated by making buttercream frosting at home. However, I did find it to be fairly simple with the added benefit of not having unwanted chemicals and additives in it. My inspiration came while surfing YouTube.  When you are fasting for Ramadan, the last few hours are the hardest to kill. This is usually when I’ll start watching food videos. Some might think this to be torturous given the temptation, but I find it helps me get creative! I got lots of good tips from Ashlee Marie’s video . I didn’t have some of the ingredients on hand, but decided to improvise anyways.

Ingredients:

1 pack Betty Crocker’s Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake mix
½ ( 2 oz) packet chocolate Jello pudding mix
1 cup yogurt mixed with ½ cup water as a substitute for the water in the package directions
1/3 cup oil
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons flour
¼ cup milk

*recipe adjusted for high altitude. If you are not at high altitude, then omit the extra flour and increase oil to 1/2 cup.

Directions:

Preheat oven at 350F. Sift dry ingredients. Blend wet ingredients. Beat at high for 2 mins as you pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Bake 25 mins in two 9″ pans lined with wax paper. Allow to cool completely.

Frosting:

2 1/2 sticks of butter at room temp (should not be melted or frozen)
3 cups confectioners sugar
¾ cups cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-5 tablespoons half n half or cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Beat the butter for at least 2 mins till it is light and fluffy. Wipe the sides down with a spatula intermittently. Then add in the sugar and cocoa in small batches while beating continuously. Beat till the mix is smooth, about two more minutes. Add the milk and extract and beat for another minute. If the frosting needs to be firmer, then add more sugar. If it needs to be thinner, then add cream.

Once the cakes are cooled completely, do a thin layer of frosting aka. Crumb Layer. The point being that if there are loose crumbs, it won’t show through in the final frosting. Stick the cake in the fridge for 5-10 mins so it sets. Then put on the rest of the icing. There should be enough frosting to put in between layers, on top and on sides and have some left over for decoration. You can do rough swirls, however I decided to use a metal edge and smooth out the frosting. I piped some flowers on the edges and set some raspberries upside down for some color.

Reflection:

I had to improvise since I didn’t have confectioner’s sugar on hand. I used the spice grinder to grind granulated sugar. My kids loved it! I guess they are easy to please!  However, I could taste a slight crunchiness in the final frosting. Even though the texture was fine, I would HIGHLY recommend using confectioner’s sugar to make it smoother and creamier. Also, the next time I make it, I would probably melt some chocolate chips in cream – ganache) and reduce the quantity of the cocao. This would also give it a creamier and richer texture.  Adding the corn syrup definitely helps to stabilize it. Most baker’s swear by their turntables and spatulas. I see why! I think it’s time for me to go invest in the proper equipment! Overall, I’m glad I added the yogurt to the cake. It definitely helped to keep it moist.

Do share  your experiences in making your favorite dessert! If you are looking for other yummy treats, try this Mango Cake, an ideal summer treat!