As good as the cake I shared with you yesterday was (and it was mighty good), I simply could not resist pairing that heavenly white chocolate cream cheese frosting with some real chocolate. And since two cakes are certainly better than one, only a week after I made the raspberry cake I went ahead and threw this puppy together. I used the recipe that my friend Lindsay uses for her chocolate ganache cake and it worked beautifully.
The frosting tasted just as good on this chocolate cake as it did on the raspberry cake. The subtle flavor of raspberry in the frosting complemented the richness of this classic chocolate cake very nicely. I can’t decide which cake I liked better. Nate voted for the raspberry cake, although he had to really think about it. The jury’s still out for me. What I do know is I need to stop making cakes pronto. This is downright reckless behavior!
- ¾ cup boiling water
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
- 1 teaspoon instant-espresso powder (I didn’t have any on hand, so I left it out – I’m certain it would deepen the chocolate flavor, though”¦so if you’ve got it, use it!)
- ½ cup whole milk (I only had 2% milk, and things worked out just fine)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 3 (7- or 8-inch, 2-inch-deep) round cake pans and line bottoms with rounds of wax or parchment paper. Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess. (My oven is too small to bake three cakes at once, plus I don’t have three of any one size. I used 2 9-inch cake pans.)
- Whisk together water, cocoa, and espresso powder until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla.
- Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy, then add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and cocoa mixture in batches, beginning and ending with flour and mixing at low speed until just combined. (This batter is TASTY. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)
- Divide batter among pans (about 2⅓ cups per pan for 3 pans), smoothing tops. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes for 7-inch pans or 20 to 25 minutes for 8-inch. Cool in pans on a rack 30 minutes, then invert onto racks, remove paper, and cool completely.
- 6 ounces white chocolate (melt as directed on package, then cool 5 mins)
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ¼ cup butter (softened)
- 2 teaspoons raspberry extract (I’m thinking of leaving this out sometime to use with other cakes/rolls/etc)
- 2 cup confectioners sugar
- Beat cream cheese and buter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium (I used my KitchenAid) until well blended. Add cooled white chocolate and raspberry extract. Mix well. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy (I let the KitchenAid go for several minutes and the frosting truly got light and fluffy).
Hi! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and count on you to share yours! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
These cakes posts this week are making my tumbly rumbly! (Can you tell we’ve been reading Winnie the Pooh at my house?)
Oh, I think I better cancel some plans tomorrow to stay home and make this:)
Dessert is my favorite.I’m always tempted to dessert temptations.
White chcolate on chocolate sounds heavenly.
I frost a lemon cake layered with raspberry jam and lemon curd with white chocolate frosting to recreate our wedding cake.
Jane is great! Give us the chocolate cake – HUH!
http://www.icomedytv.com/Comedy-Videos/ID/975/Bill-Cosby-Chocolate-cake-with-transcript-0927.aspx
(yes, Peter ate this for breakfast 😉
You are killing me with this frosting! I must make it!
im taking this to a friends for dessert tonight. thanx so much for sharing the recipe.
nina
I just made this cake, but used a giant cupcake pan. It turned out GREAT! I loved the white chocolate raspberry frosting with the chocolate cake. YuMMM. Certainly making this again!!
This frosting saved me from having to use an oversweet buttercream I made for a wedding dessert! The tanginess was a nice complement to the chocolate cake and just the right amount of sweetness. However, I learned late in the process that this recipe was not enough for a crumb coat and icing for a 9″ x 3″ pan, 2 layer cake—so users beware.
I’m so glad you liked the frosting! and sorry it wasn’t enough. the amount of frosting in the recipe is what I used for that two layer cake in the photo, but frosting is always tricky – I’ve started just doubling every frosting I make to be safe! anyway, sorry about that but glad you enjoyed it!
My son asked me to make a “chocolate and chocolate” cake for his birthday. THIS RECIPE IS A WINNER! Cant wait to make it (and eat it! 😀 ). I was wondering though, did you use some jam as a filling or it is just the picture tricking my eyes? Also, will I need to brush some moisture the cake? Thanks! 🙂
it’s SO GOOD! you’ll love it!
the picture is tricking your eyes – I didn’t use any jam! although, I’m sure it would be good if you wanted to add that as a layer in the middle. I would spread the jam on top of the frosting for that center layer if you do that.
and you won’t need to brush any moisture on the cake either!
good luck and let me know how it goes!
I am making now this cake, and I am getting worried as I prepare the frosting. It does not look fluffy to me 🙁 It has the consistency of a batter. I am wondering if I did something wrong. I dobled the recipe. Help 🙁
if you ever have trouble with frosting texture, you can adjust the ingredients! in your case, add more powdered sugar! just put the blender on high and add 1/4 cup at a time or so until you get it to a good spreadable consistency. it’s not too late, I”m sure you can make it work!
Thanks for your answer Jane. Unfortunately, I had no success in making the frosting 🙁 I have no idea what went wrong. I have made similar cream cheese frosting in the past and was not complicated. Read other recipes similar than yours and it seems like I have made all correctly. I added more sugar, but didn’t work and I gave up. I did not want to add more sugar as it was super sweet already and I didn’t want to give a sugar rush to the kids kn the party 🙂 . I ended up just using whipping cream with some white chocolate and it worked fine. That being said, THIS CAKE IS DELICIOUS!!! Everyone loved it, and so did my son. Would’ve been great to have eaten the right frosting also but it doesn’t matter, the cake itself was amazing. You were right, no moisture needed. It is a super moist cake! Thanks! 🙂
I’m so glad you came back to let me know how it went! you know, it really could just have been something as simple as temperature (either the ambient temperature or of specific ingredients). I’m sorry that it didn’t turn out, maybe next time it won’t be cursed! but your solution sounds DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and I think you should try the frosting again another time (not under the gun) because it really is pretty divine! 😉 anyway, thank you so much for coming and letting us know how it all went down! 🙂
also, fluffy is sort of the right description of the frosting, but it should also hold up like a buttercream. the texture is very similar to buttercream in terms of thickness, but the texture on the tongue is creamier and, I suppose, fluffier. it’s hard to describe! anyway, I’m rambling, but just hoping this helps if you make it again!