Three Layer Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I made this cake this past Monday for a party at my grandparent's house! I was supposed to go by a grocery store and get a chocolate cake with white icing, but I decided to make one myself instead! I had a hard time deciding between cream cream frosting and buttercream icing, but I had several packs of cream cheese that I needed to use up, so I went with the cream cheese frosting. Icing recipes are extremely versatile: you can change the amount of powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you want it) and vary the types of flavorings you put in it (vanilla extract, orange extract, etc).  

As I was tapping out the excess flour in my pans, I noticed a perfectly shaped heart!

Don't worry, the batter is supposed to be runny. I actually forgot the hot coffee until the last minute, but luckily there was some leftover coffee in the coffee pot that I heated up and mixed in.

I had the most nerve-wracking time trying to figure out the placement of the cakes in the oven. I have a gas range and an electric oven that will switch to convection, but I had no idea which to use. I know convection is better, but I couldn't figure out whether to turn the temperature down or change the time or the recipe or anything. I finally got so confused that I just put them in the oven (2 on top, 1 on bottom) and left it. About halfway through the cooking time, I put it on convection and reversed the position of the cakes. They turned out all right even though I was constantly messing with them, thank goodness!

I miscalculated just how much frosting I needed to ice this cake at first, and I ended up doubling the recipe. But doubling icing isn't a big deal, you just mix it all back in together to get the color uniform when you're done.

I cut the dome off of the top of the cakes to make them look more professional, and I put a crumb coat on all three of my layers to avoid getting unsightly crumbs in my frosting. Just put a very, very thin coat of frosting on the cakes, and chill for about 30 minutes. Then take them out and frost as usual!

When I begin to put the cake together, I noticed that the cake was leaning slightly, and I put 3 bamboo skewers in it to keep the layers from slipping off. I cut the skewers slightly below frosting level so they wouldn't be seen in the finished product. Be careful when cutting the skewers; I pinched my finger all three times with the scissors! It was totally worth it though. I'm not sure exactly how much icing I used in between the layers, but there is plenty of icing to go around, so don't worry about running out. If you were feeling particularly fancy, you could put chocolate mousse, jam, curd, ganache, or stiffly whipped cream between the layers. I would have, but sadly I was short on time. Get creative!

Oh, and this cardboard cake circle was a life saver in moving the cake from refrigerator to table to cake plate and back again. I got mine at Wal-Mart and they are Wilton brand. I used the 10 inch one. I found a piping bag and several tips and dyed the icing a slightly deeper shade of blue for the decorations. I used a star tip and a basketweave tip. Next time, I'll go slower and let the icing chill for a longer period of time.

The cake turned out wonderful and was absolutely delicious! I can't wait to make another cake recipe and test out my re-found icing skills. But I have been re-reading Chez Panisse, a book about Alice Waters, the slow food movement, and her Berkeley restaurant, so I am probably going to do a French inspired dessert next week. Perhaps a tart? I guess we'll see!

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 3 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 1/3 cups sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups hot coffee

Frosting:

• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
• 5 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 3 (9-inch) cake pans (I use shortening). Cut 3 circles of waxed paper or parchment paper to fit the bottoms of the pans, then press them in.
• In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or using a hand mixer), cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and eggs and mix until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla, cocoa, baking soda and salt and mix. Add 1/2 of the flour, then 1/2 of the sour cream and mix. Repeat with the remaining flour and sour cream. Drizzle in the hot coffee and mix until smooth. The batter will be thin. 
• For the frosting: In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add your food coloring or gel if you choose to do so. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use to make sure that it doesn't get runny, which cream cheese frosting is prone to do if it gets warm.

Assembly:

• Line up the three cakes and carefully and evenly slice off the domes to ensure a more professional, bakery look. Then ice the cakes with a crumb coat, and chill for 30 minutes. Take out and fill between the layers with frosting, then insert cut bamboo skewers into the cake for support. Finish icing the cake, and decorate further if desired. Put cake in fridge until time to serve.