Chocolate Devil's Food Cake with Espresso Swiss Meringue Buttercream

No study tells for sure why pregnant women has certain cravings. But I knew why I was having mines!

I was craving for coffee...

Being a coffee addict one minute and then totally give it up because I was pregnant was unexpectedly easy. I don't know why but it was like a switch was turn off and I didn't want it anymore.

That lasted for a few months actually! I was searching for 'The Perfect Birthday cake' for my hubby and came across this beauty. I wanted to have coffee since then. I tried other links thinking I shouldn't give in to this feeling or I wont be able to stop...but no! Cravings are cravings and I started craving for this cake!

I was confused at first, this cake had five layers and I have a very small oven which meant I needed to bake each layer separately and lets not forget butter cream and Icing the cake. All of this had to be done before midnight. It felt there was too much to do in too less a time frame.

And then I remembered that this is the only way I can have a tini mini coffee and the marathon started...

Since I was running out of time, I made this five layered cake to four only. When the last layer came out of the oven and I was arranging my ingredients to start with butter cream...poof! There comes a powercut!

Now I had only 3 hours to get it ready and no buttercream.

But I got this unwanted break and I stared fresh when power came back.

The buttercream was ready and I had to stop myself from licking it all from the blender. Controlling my temptation I placed it in refrigerator for a while to chill it out.

Since it was the first time I was making anything with cream, I did not have the right tools to get it smooth. I called in reinforcement in the form of my sister and we both started icing these layers with two offset spatulas trying our best to have the least amount of cake crumbs on our icing.

Ten minutes to midnight, my dear husband comes out to check our progress on his birthday cake and he was impressed that we were done with it and were cleaning our mess.

It was another mission accomplished and I was ready to crash after the cake cutting ceremony. 

The recipe was sourced from lululuathome.com

Recipe Follows:

Chocolate Devil's Food Layer Cake

3 Cups All purpose Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
3 Sticks Unsalted Butter, softened
2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
4 Eggs, room temperature
1/2 Cup Boiling Water

1 Cup Buttermilk, room temperature
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

Espresso Swiss Meringue Buttercream 

5 Large Egg Whites
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
4 Stick Unsalted Butter, softened 

1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup strong Espresso, cooled

Others

1 Cup Roasted Almonds, sliced

Procedure:


Preheat oven to 350 Degree F (170 degree C) and grease eight inch pan, and line it with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, mix boiling water with cocoa powder until smooth.

On a medium speed, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. To the mixture add eggs, one by one. Beat in buttermilk and vanilla extract.

Turn to low speed and add in 1/3 of flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of chocolate mixture. Repeat with the remaining mixture until just incorporated.

Divide the batter (about 1 cup) and pour into the prepared pans, smoothing the surface. Bake for about 13 to 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Place the cakes on the wire rack to cool. Let them cool completely before frosting.

For the buttercream, put egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water. with an electric hand mixer, beat constantly until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot. Remove from heat.

Continue whipping the mixture until thick, glossy and cool. While mixing on medium speed, keep adding softened butter chunks until incorporated and mix till it has reached a smooth texture. If curdles, keep mixing and it will come back to smooth. Add Vanilla and Salt.

Before frosting the cake, add the espresso in the buttercream and beat for around 10 seconds. Reserve 1 cup of buttercream for piping on top.

For assembling the cake, place one cake layer on the serving plate and spread 1/3 of the buttercream. Repeat this process until all the layers are placed. Smear buttercream on top and sides of the cake. Garnish with sliced almonds.

Cover and refrigerate the cake. leave out in room temperature for a while before serving.