Chocolate Espresso Cake with Whipped Vanilla Bean Frosting
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- ½ cup high quality Dutch process cocoa
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder dissolved into ¾ cup water
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon almond extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Frosting:
- 3 sticks + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened and cut into cubes
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar icing/powdered
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 vanilla bean scraped
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1 drop each of Avocado Violet and Orange Americolor gel paste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare pans - I use cake release.
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat; add cocoa, stirring until smooth. Whisk in the espresso water and remove from heat.
- Add the sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs to the warmed cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the first mixture, whisking until well blended.
- Pour batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch and has slightly pulled away from the sides of the pan.
- Cool in pans on a rack for 20 minutes. Remove from pan by placing the rack over the cake and invert, tapping pan lightly, if required to loosen.
To make the frosting:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed until very pale & creamy.
- Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy. Place about ½ cup of frosting in three small bowls and add the colours to each. Use the coloured frosting to fill each layer of the cake. Use the remaining frosting to mask the entire cake.
Notes
adapted from Sweetapolita