Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting


If you're hosting Christmas dinner, or having a New Year's Eve party, I have a lovely and delicious dessert for you!  This past weekend, we had a gourmet group gathering at the home of good friends.  This cake was assigned to us (BTW, that means me) to bring as each couple gets an assignment that the host and hostess determine.  


There was a note in the recipe that peppermint extract could be added to make it more festive for the holidays.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any peppermint extract on hand.  What I did have were crushed candy canes from the candy cane cookies I made in my last post.  The problem with crushed candy canes in the frosting was that they kept getting stuck in my piping nozzle, even though I was using the largest star tip.  Next time, I'd use extract or make sure the candy canes are pulverized thoroughly!  


I decorated the cake with Hershey's candy cane kisses and candy candy-dusted star cookies made with the same candy cane cookie dough from my last post for a festive look!


Since I didn't want to slice it before it was served at dinner that evening, I took a few (bad) photos with my phone while we were plating it so you could see what the layers look like and how I served it.  I brought extra cookies and red raspberries for serving.  It was delicious!  


Ho-Ho-Ho!  Wishing all of you who celebrate a sweet and Very Merry Christmas! 



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Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting


Serves 12

3 cups granulated sugar
2-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1-3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/4 cups strong black coffee, cooled to room temperature
1-1/4 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temperature

Note: I didn't have 9" x 2" pans so used 9" by 1-3/4" pans and my cake spilled over in the oven. If you don't have 2" pans, prepare a collar with parchment paper to make sure your cake won't spill over the top of the pan. Click HERE for a good tutorial on how to make a collar. 

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease 2 - 9" x 2" round cake pan. Line bottom with parchment - See Note above ^

Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and baking powder into large mixing bowl (to make sure there aren't any lumpy bits). 

Mix together cooled coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla.

At low speed, beat half of buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until blended and smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Beat in remaining buttermilk mixture. Batter will seem thin. Pour evenly into prepared pans.

Bake cakes in the center of the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes, depending on your oven. Start checking at 40 minutes.

Allow cakes to cool in pans for 5 minutes. Loosen cakes by running a metal spatula around the sides of the pans. Remove parchment collar if one was used. Turn cakes out onto wire racks to cool completely and remove parchment paper from bottom.

White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1 pound (4 sticks) butter, softened
1 pound white chocolate, chopped up a bit
4-5 cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
1/2 to 1 cup heavy whipping cream
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract, or finely crushed candy canes, if desired

Melt 1 stick butter with chocolate in a double boiler (or a round metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water). Stir and let cool slightly. 

In a mixing bowl, cream remaining 3 sticks butter with confectioners sugar and melted white chocolate mixture. Beat until creamy. 

Add heavy cream, a little at a time, and beat until desired consistency is achieved. Add extracts and/or finely crushed candy cane and blend well, adding more cream if necessary.

Slice each cake in half horizontally, using a very long serrated knife. Some people use taut dental floss! Click HERE to see a tutorial on how to do that. 

Place one layer on a serving plate and spread with about 1/6th of the frosting. Repeat with the next two layers. Top with remaining cake layer and spread sides and top with frosting. 

Decorate cake with piped additional frosting as you wish. Top with Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses, and Christmas Cookies if desired. 

37 comments:

  1. Hohohoho..:) HO and you know what I mean! Perfect!!
    Susan you made me laugh w/ the piping tip because I have been there for that or so many other reasons..Piping bags and tips and me ..oh lala.
    The spilling over NO fun.

    The cake looks fantastic..and I love how you presented it to us.Coffee in a cake ..always a great idea.
    Mes meilleurs voeux de la saison ♥

    And lol on you..being the designated baker for the gourmet event..s...

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    1. Thank you ♥ I had to use a toothpick to keep dislodging the bits of candy cane. Glad to know I'm not the only one with piping issues :) The coffee just makes the chocolate taste even richer, doesn't it? I don't mind being the designated baker :) The hostess asked and I said, No Problem!

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  2. Thank you for this delicious "gift"! Merry Christmas and best wishes for the coming year.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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    1. You are so welcome, Bonnie! I was happy to be gifted such a great recipe also :)

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  3. wow So festive and beautiful! I wish I could have a slice there with you :-)) Happy Holidays to you and yours, Susan!

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    1. Thank you, Angie! I wish there were some left to offer you :) I will definitely make this again. Happy Holidays, Angie!

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  4. Pinned! My grandsons recently told me that their favorite dessert was cake. Let’s see if I can come through for them. Thank you!

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    1. This is such a good cake too, Vee! Just please read all my notes. I had an oven disaster because of my pans not being quite tall enough :) Hope they love it!

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    2. Wonder if I could bake it in a springform pan?

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    3. Unless the seal on your springform is REALLY good, I'd be afraid of the batter leaking out, Vee. The batter for this cake is pretty thin.

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    4. Thanks for getting back to me! I'd better stick with the cake pans and I will go back and reread your notes.

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  5. May the Christmas season fill your home with joy, your heart with love and your life with laughter.

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    1. Thank you very much for your kind wishes. Merry Christmas to you!

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  6. Well I hope I get asked to bring dessert to our gourmet group dinner next December :-) Our group would love this.

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    1. He-he :) It is a wonderful holiday dessert, Debbie! Thanks ♥

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  7. A great looking and festive Christmas cake. I love your cake stand and you images are wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks so much, Ron! I was happy to have the opportunity to make this wonderful recipe.

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  8. What beautiful cake Susan!
    Merry Christmas to you and yours, xoxo

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    1. Thank you so much, Gloria! Merry Christmas to you and your family ♥

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  9. These photos are making my mouth water! Growing up my favorite cake was chocolate with white icing, but WHITE chocolate BUTTERCREAM? You are making me swoon!

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    1. Thanks, Pattie! I'm usually not a white chocolate fan but this was so good! Must be all the butter ;) Definitely a special occasion splurge but so worth it!

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    2. I'm not generally a white chocolate fan either, but in the right recipe it can be heaven! Happy New Year!

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  10. I can certainly see why you were asked to bring the cake, your creations are always beautiful. Wishing you all the best this Christmas Day.

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    1. Thanks so much, Karen :) It was a great Christmas, Happy New Year to you!

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    2. And the same to you, I hope the coming year brings you lots of happy times and good health.

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  11. Oh Susan, the cake looks absolutely beautiful, and I'm sure that the taste was superb! I love that darling Santa teapot ornament! Merry Christmas to you. ❤️🎄

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    1. Thanks so much, Kitty! The teapot ornament is probably 25 yeas old :) Wishing you a Happy New Year!

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  12. I would have loved to join you for a slice of cake, dear Susan. It looks amazing and so beautifully styled. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas day.
    Amalia
    xo

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    1. That would be so nice, Amalia :) It was a great Christmas here. Happy New Year to you and yours!

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  13. Thanks for sharing this great post.

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  14. That cake looks so festive and I know it must have tasted divine. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

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  15. This cake looks amazing! And, I did the same thing, when I don't have the peppermint extract on hand I use crushed peppermint candies as well- it always works for me too!
    Wishing you a very Happy and Healthy New Year Susan!! Most of all, thank you for your friendship this past year. We are so grateful!
    xo Anna and Liz

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    1. I feel grateful also for all the wonderful people I've met, including yourselves :) Happy New Year, Anna and Liz!

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  16. This cake sounds fabulous, but first I must try the frosting. It sounds totally glorious! Hope you had an awesome holiday Susan, but judging from this, you surely did!

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    1. It was a wonderful cake and we won't count calories for special occasions :) Thank you, Abbe!

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