Whisk Kid

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Think – {Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream}

February 18, 2011 by Whisk Kid

Enjoying the damp, dark quiet of an unremarkable night, I’m walking alone on the sidewalk. It seems to move beneath my feet like a giant treadmill and I find myself feeling, although mobile, quite stationary. Lighted by street lamps and porch lights, the path ahead is clearly defined, empty, and normal; but somehow it seems as if my steps are being delivered at the sounding of my souls.


I imagine, briefly, the satisfying thud calling forth the next foot of Earth. Buildings drag by and cracks slip away – each sight eventually erased by a few swift steps and a blurry peripheral view. I picture the great gears associated with turning the ground and wonder how the track will be replaced after years of shoes like mine tear and fray it to shreds. I know this straight path will take me far enough to reach my house, but I wonder, then, how much farther I would have to walk until it looped around.

Just how large can this treadmill be? I ask myself. But then, more importantly:

How long, exactly, have I been doing homework?


I shake the imaginary treadmill from my consciousness and attribute its conception to the materials in my backpack. A drained laptop, a pair of worn notebooks, a scratched calculator, and a single dulled pencil; all remnants of an evening spent preparing for exams.

And now, as evening has turned to night, I’m drained. I realize that I’ve studied myself into a mild state of senselessness and now I’m paying for it with lucid visions of insanity.

I hold the conclusion for a moment, pitting the worth of grades against that of sanity. Not just for myself, but for everyone. From the particularly studios inhabitants of the library (in other words, not me) to the drunk porch inhabitants adding spark and zest to my walk. Grades are certainly important – I know – but there’s a balance to be found.


Because you can’t allow imagination – what I suddenly realized I had called senselessness – to become foreign. Otherwise it’s all down hill from here.

Deep Chocolate Cake adapted from Allrecipes
This is a very dense, moist and chocolaty cake. It’s my go-to, and it never EVER lets me down. The recipe below will make two 6-inch layers. Doubling it will produce, two 9″ layers.
Printable Recipe

1 1/3 c (166 g) flour
3/8 c (33 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c (118 g) butter, room temp
1 1/2 c (213 g) brown sugar, lightly packed
2 eggs, room temp
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 c (157 ml) sour cream, room temp
2/3 c (157 ml) hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Oil and line either two 6-inch pans. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, soda and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar, until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until very well incorporated. Add the vanilla. Being sure to scrape the bowl often, pour in a third of the dry ingredients, mix until just combined, then add half of the sour cream and mix until just combined. Repeat, then add the remaining dry ingredients. Gently stir in the hot coffee, and pour into prepared pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Place baked cakes in pans on a cooling rack for ten minutes, then remove the cakes from the pans and allow to cool completely before continuing.

Italian Meringue Buttercream
For step-by-step directions for making Italian Meringue Buttercream, please click here!
Printable Recipe

1/4 c (63 ml) water
1 c (210 g) sugar
5 egg whites
1/4 c (53 g) sugar
1 c (237 g) butter, softened, cut into small pieces
1 tsp vanilla

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer.

Heat the 1 c sugar and water on the stove to 245F stirring occasionally only after the sugar has been dissolved. When it is within the range of 230F to 235F, begin whipping the egg whites. When they get to soft peaks, begin adding the remaining 1/4 c sugar and continue whipping to medium peaks, being careful not to overbeat. When the syrup is the correct temperature, slowly pour it into the eggs with the mixer on high. After the syrup is fully incorporated, beat the frosting 7-10 minutes until the outside of the bowl is room temp. Lower the speed to medium-low and begin adding the butter, tablespoon by tablespoon, beating until fully incorporated before adding the next piece. The frosting will deflate a little, but
it’s ok. Once all the butter has been added, return the speed to high and keep whipping until the frosting comes together. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.

Assembly
Chill the cakes for at least two hours, then split them. Fill with Italian Meringue Buttercream and crumb coat. Frost and serve at room temp.

How to stack and crumb coat.
How to frost a cake.

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Filed Under: All Recipes, Cakes, Chocolate, Most Popular

« How to Frost a Cake
Sweet – {Milky Ways} »

Comments

  1. Samantha says

    February 18, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    I will dream of this cake…<br />It&#39;s GORGEOUS!!

  2. Corrine says

    February 18, 2011 at 3:17 pm

    Beautiful! I&#39;m totally in the mood for cake now. 😉

  3. Anncoo says

    February 18, 2011 at 4:16 pm

    WOW! This cake looks so stunning. Love the contrast of black and white, beautiful!

  4. Joy says

    February 18, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    That lloks so good. you do a great job frosting.

  5. lukas3 says

    February 18, 2011 at 6:13 pm

    This comment has been removed by the author.

  6. Dana says

    February 18, 2011 at 6:34 pm

    What a lovely cake (and cakestand)!

  7. cutekittypunk says

    February 18, 2011 at 7:31 pm

    that cake is very oreo looking and it sounds good… i may try this frosting out for my kids birthday… do you think little kids would like this frosting? it sounds amazing.

  8. Katy Rose says

    February 18, 2011 at 7:55 pm

    I make Italian BUttercream using the same recipe as you. I have a few questions as to your method of construction (sorry i have sewing on the brain, lol) Why do you reserve the 1/4 cup of sugar and mix it into the egg whites instead of melting it down with the rest in the saucepan? Why only one cup of butter? (mine usually calls for 2)

  9. Jane Ko says

    February 19, 2011 at 1:46 am

    This is just simply stunning!

  10. Rachel says

    February 19, 2011 at 2:20 am

    Do you have any good fondant recipes? Try as I might, I can&#39;t get fondant to taste very good. I&#39;m starting to think it&#39;s against the rules or something. 😛

  11. [email protected] says

    February 19, 2011 at 3:20 am

    Oh wow, the cake looks so dreamy!! What a neat piping u did on it! Wish I was an artist like you 🙁

  12. Heidi says

    February 19, 2011 at 4:45 am

    This cake looks amazing. Try as I might, I cannot ice a cake with totally smooth sides like yours. Your layers are so level and your filling is perfectly level as well. What am I doing wrong? Ahhhh!!!! Beautiful cake. I will have to try the choc cake recipe. Even though many folks thing choc cake is choc cake..they are all a bit different. Yours looks like a nice deep chocolate.

  13. Lick My Spoon says

    February 19, 2011 at 5:28 am

    We finally get to see the finished product in all its glory! Beautiful. I loved this 3 part tutorial so thank you!

  14. Zoe says

    February 20, 2011 at 7:31 am

    Wow, that looks amazing! I&#39;d love to eat a slice right now.

  15. Lynn says

    February 20, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    Lovely cake! I love layers upon layers of cake!!! I will have to give this a try! Thanks for sharing!

  16. Privatestock says

    February 20, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    WOW gorgeous cake! I love baking cakes yes I do! Frosting them as well! It&#39;s lot of fun. Especially when my daughter is around to help. She&#39;s very good at this kind of stuff.

  17. Whiskey says

    February 20, 2011 at 11:34 pm

    I made mine with a Bailey&#39;s Irish Cream buttercream and this is the most delicious chocolate cake ever! So moist and that hint of coffee really went with the Bailey&#39;s! Kaitlyn I doubt I&#39;ll ever have the presentation skills you do, but all of your recipes are foolproof and tasty!

  18. Ryan @ Ryan's Baking Blog says

    February 21, 2011 at 7:30 am

    I love the contrast of the black and white, you always make the most beautiful cakes!

  19. Elizabeth M says

    February 21, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    I just found your blog through tastespotting! It is absolutely amazing! I have a feeling that I&#39;m going to be checking back here often.

  20. livininthekitchen says

    February 22, 2011 at 1:59 am

    That&#39;s so pretty! Love it!<br />Jess : )

  21. stefi_licious :) says

    February 22, 2011 at 10:22 am

    wow – it looks so delicious… and kind of fancy in black and white. 🙂

  22. megabite says

    February 22, 2011 at 4:53 pm

    This looks like perfection! I&#39;ve made your swiss meringue buttercream, I guess it&#39;s time to give the Italian a shot.

  23. whisk-kid says

    February 22, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    Thank you for your kind comments, everyone! <br /><br /><b>@Katy Rose</b>: I add that 1/4 c of sugar into the egg whites because it makes them harder to overbeat. Also, I know that most recipes for Italian Meringue call for 2 cups of butter, but I don&#39;t think they need it. It always comes together with 1 cup for me, and it tastes lighter, in my opinion. <br /><br /><b>@Rachel</b>: I made

  24. Stella says

    February 23, 2011 at 2:47 pm

    I love that your cakes are always ridiculously tall. I always say a single layer cake is just lazy; two layer cake a perfect afternoon snack, three layers for the weekend, four for weddings, five for birthdays. 😉 I&#39;m addicted to cake.

  25. cupcakexgirl says

    February 23, 2011 at 11:51 pm

    Dear god this looks amazing…..I love how tall it is, and the beautiful piped roses along the top. Not to mention the chocolate cake looks mouth wateringly delicious!!

  26. Maria says

    February 24, 2011 at 4:09 pm

    What a beautiful cake!

  27. Dayanna says

    February 24, 2011 at 4:09 pm

    I made your italian butter cream over the weekend and it was awesome! My new favorite frosting! Quick question though – this recipe calls for 1/4 cup of water, but the longer tutorial says 1/2 cup water… does it matter?

  28. Danae - The Busty Baker says

    February 24, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    Simply stunning. I love the roses!

  29. [email protected] Charm says

    February 24, 2011 at 7:21 pm

    This cake looks so yummy and it is out of this world BEAUTIFUL!!! Coming by from my friend Kat&#39;s blog…she was so nice to lead me to your awesome blog…yes you now have a new follower:)<br /><br />Blessings,<br />Linda

  30. Rachel Lynn says

    February 24, 2011 at 7:36 pm

    The cake looks delicious, and I have to say your writing is pretty beautiful too! I made my way over from Low Tide High Style just too say, &quot;Good luck with everything, and by the looks of things you&#39;re on the right track!&quot;

  31. Kim @ Savvy Southern Style says

    February 24, 2011 at 9:41 pm

    Came over from Kat&#39;s blog. Wonderful photography of your baked goods and the recipe looks awesome. Wish I enjoyed baking like that. Of course if I did I would weigh 300 pounds, too.

  32. NancyO says

    February 24, 2011 at 10:35 pm

    You are a force to be reckoned with… I like how you think! Beautiful cake. Yum.

  33. melonpan says

    February 25, 2011 at 2:58 pm

    wow what a beautiful cake^^<br />now i am hungry T.T

  34. Pickled Sweets says

    February 27, 2011 at 1:43 pm

    from the look of your pictures, i can tell why this is your go-to recipe! i was looking at a similar recipe and im now in a dilemma. heck, i might just make both recipes! now the question is, how soon?

  35. Kenni says

    March 4, 2011 at 3:44 pm

    I just found your blog and I&#39;m already in love with you. Thank you for making me drool profusely on my keyboard.

  36. Colleen says

    March 6, 2011 at 5:54 am

    I just made this cake for my youngest daughter&#39;s 19th birthday, and it was wonderful. Thank you for a perfect birthday cake!

  37. Johanna says

    May 7, 2011 at 11:00 am

    Sounds lovely! And smells good, too! The chocolate cake just came out of the oven. It fell a little on the cooling rack. Can that be avoided? (Not that it really matters as it will be covered in buttercream but still…)<br />Now on to the buttercream challenge!

  38. Kaitlin says

    May 9, 2011 at 1:33 am

    Thanks for your comments, everyone &lt;3<br /><br />Colleen and Johanna – I&#39;m happy to hear you liked it! Johanna, I&#39;m not sure why the cake sank 🙁 Sorry!

  39. Love & Sugar Kisses says

    May 16, 2011 at 9:34 pm

    I just made this chocolate cake and it is hands-down my &quot;go to&quot; recipe! Everyone loved it. I paired it with Coconut IMBC. You can check out my blog post on it:<br />http://lovesugarkisses.blogspot.com/2011/05/chocolate-and-coconutthe-perfect.html<br /><br />Thanks so much! I LOVE your blog :)<br /><br />Maria

  40. Anonymous says

    July 30, 2011 at 9:11 pm

    Question – Is there a reason you wrote 4/6 cup instead of 2/3?

  41. Kaitlin says

    August 1, 2011 at 1:25 pm

    Nope! I&#39;m not sure at all why I did that. Thanks for pointing it out – consider it revised!

  42. Jen says

    January 12, 2012 at 3:41 am

    I&#39;ve made this cake twice and it&#39;s so yummy! The first time I used it to make ice cream cake and it was PERFECT! I layered vanilla ice cream and frosted with French vanilla cool whip!<br />today I made it with the frosting. I need to work on my buttercream but it was good!<br />mine doesn&#39;t come out as dark as yours …but it tastes good!

  43. whisk-kid.com says

    January 14, 2012 at 10:40 pm

    So glad to hear that, Jen!

  44. Anonymous says

    February 6, 2012 at 12:22 am

    Looks simply divine! And reminds me of Oreos 🙂

  45. whisk-kid.com says

    February 7, 2012 at 1:39 pm

    Thanks!

  46. Katie says

    March 9, 2012 at 2:14 am

    Love your blog…your tutorial on IMBC and SMBC got me through successfully the first time! Do you know how this cake would hold up to carving and stacking under fondant? Thanks so much!

  47. Kaitlin says

    March 13, 2012 at 1:32 pm

    Thanks! I am glad they worked for you! I can&#39;t think of any reason this cake wouldn&#39;t be able to hold up 🙂

  48. Marc D says

    March 23, 2012 at 11:23 am

    Cake was great. Italian Buttercream was disaster. Going back to Swiss version which always works.

  49. Kaitlin says

    March 27, 2012 at 4:30 am

    Oh no! Sorry to hear that, Marc 🙁

  50. Anonymous says

    March 30, 2012 at 5:29 am

    this looks so pretty and perfect!<br /><br />sorry if this question is stupid but in this recipe, do you use dutch cocoa or normal unsweetened cocoa? i have some cocoa barry extra brute but im not sure if i can use it for this cake? <br /><br />samantha

    • Kaitlin says

      April 14, 2012 at 3:37 am

      Not a stupid question! I actually don&#39;t know what kind of difference it would make 🙁 Sorry!

  51. Heather says

    May 21, 2012 at 11:04 pm

    I have a question and I hate to bother you with it. Can you really taste the coffee in the cake? I want a really nice chocolate cake for a child&#39;s party, but I don&#39;t think coffee would go over well.

  52. Darcie Santoyo says

    June 8, 2012 at 11:35 pm

    This is the only Chocolate cake that I make now. Love it 🙂

  53. Heather says

    July 15, 2012 at 11:20 pm

    So I am finally getting around to using this recipe. Instead of regular coffee I used Chocolate Raspberry Truffle coffee. It smells incredible. Getting ready to start the butter cream. I will let you know how it turns out. From the smell of it I am going to say AWESOME!

  54. Heather says

    July 16, 2012 at 1:13 am

    Okay, the raspberry coffee was a huge hit. My frosting was soupy, probably because it is hot here and my house was still warm from the oven. But after lowering the temp in the house, putting it in the fridge for 7 minutes and adding about three pads of butter it thickened! Thank you for sharing this. Last year the only thing good on my daughter&#39;s birthday cake was the frosting, I am positive

  55. Sandhya Srivastava says

    October 19, 2012 at 9:34 am

    What a lovely cake…:P My Kids like this cake very much. Thanks buddy..These are <a href="http://www.merirasoi.com/recipe-categories/kids-recipe.aspx&quot; rel="nofollow">kids friendly recipes</a>.

  56. Anonymous says

    November 13, 2012 at 7:18 am

    Hi…I made this cake today and it turned out great. Just a couple question – the weight of the flour seemed off on my scale. Is it 1 and 1/3 cups total? That was over 200 grams. Also, what brand of cocoa and brown sugar do you use? My cake tasted delicious but it wasn&#39;t nice and dark like yours. Thanks for the great recipe!

  57. Heather says

    December 1, 2013 at 4:04 pm

    It&#39;s almost time for my daughter&#39;s birthday again, which means I WILL be baking this cake again! I am SOOO excited! 🙂 She is too! My uncle wants me to make two. One for the party, and one for just him. He LOVES this cake (I made him one for his birthday) and every time he thinks about it, he requests one. 😉 Thank you again for your lovely blog and being so helpful! Most people post and

  58. Beth Blackwood says

    January 29, 2014 at 11:32 pm

    Should one use cake flour or all-purpose?

  59. emilou says

    September 30, 2014 at 11:51 pm

    Made this for my step mom&#39;s birthday and everyone agreed it was the best cake they&#39;d ever had. Btter, deep, rich, not too sticky sweet… I&#39;m allergic to chocolate so I took their word for it on the cake, but I loved the frosting!

  60. Sindisiwe says

    May 28, 2015 at 8:36 am

    This is still my favourite cake in the world. I’m so glad you’re posting again! I particularly love that you do everything from scratch – I live in South Africa, so a LOT of the pre-prepared ingredients available in the States just don’t exist here. Plus, everything tastes better home-made. 😉 Thank you for all the recipe love that you give us!

    • Kaitlin says

      May 28, 2015 at 2:41 pm

      You’re so sweet! Thank you! And I’m glad you appreciate the from scratch aspects too. I agree it tastes better – and it’s so much more fun that way too!

  61. Stephanie Piquero says

    September 21, 2015 at 5:22 pm

    I have used your recipes for the last few years, and find the tutorials so easy to use! I would like to make the chocolate cake, but my daughter wants a Barbie doll cake, so I plan to use a bundt pan. I am wondering about the cooking time. Do you know how I should adjust the cooking time to ensure the cake cooks correctly in the bundt pan? Also, for a 3 layer cake, do you think I will need to double the recipe? Thank you!

    • Kaitlin says

      September 24, 2015 at 2:11 pm

      Aw, thank you Stephanie! I am happy to hear that you’ve enjoyed the recipes!

      Do you plan to fill the bundt pan three times to make a three layer cake? To bake one bundt, I’d start checking it at ~40 minutes 🙂

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