Birthday Cake King Arthur Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Lightly grease an 8" round cake pan; cut a piece of parchment or waxed paper to fit, grease it, and lay it in the bottom of pan (I sprayed the whole pan with flour Pam).
• To make cake; heat the chocolate and butter in microwave, stirring until mixture is melted and smooth.
• Add the sugar, salt and espresso powder.
• Add eggs, beating briefly until smooth.
• Add cocoa powder and mix just to combine.
• Spoon batter into prepared pan.
• Bake cake for 25 minutes; the top will have formed a thn crust.
• Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
• Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan, and turn it out onto a serving plate.
• Allow cake to cool completely before glazing.
• GLAZE.
• Heat chocolate and cream in microwave, stirring until chocolate melst and mixture is completely smooth.
• Spoon glaze over the cake, spreading it to drip over the sides a bit.
• Garnish with toasted almonds if desired.
• Allow glaze to set for several hours before serving cake.

Steps:

• Instructions 1. To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 325°F with a rack in the center. Lightly grease two 8" x 2" or 9" x 2" round cake pans; for extra protection against sticking, line the bottom of the pans with parchment rounds (you can cut these yourself or use precut 8" or 9" rounds), and grease the parchment. If your 8" pans aren't at least 2" deep, use 9" pans. 2. Weigh your flour; you'll find its weight by toggling to "grams" at the top of the ingredient section above. Or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. 3. In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. 4. In a large mixing bowl, either using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract, if using, until thickened and light gold in color, about 2 minutes at medium-high speed. If your stand mixer doesn't have a whisk attachment, beat for 5 minutes using the paddle attachment. The batter should fall in thick ribbons from the beaters, whisk, or paddle. 5. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture in the bowl and mix - by hand or on low speed of a mixer - just enough to combine. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, then mix again briefly, to fully incorporate any residual flour or sticky bits. 6. In a saucepan set over medium heat or in the microwave, bring the milk just to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter and oil, stirring by hand until the butter has melted. 7. Slowly mix the hot milk-butter-oil mixture into the batter, stirring on low speed of a mixer until everything is well combined. Scrape the bowl and mix briefly, just until smooth. 8. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. You'll use about 2 3/4 cups (about 580g) in each. 9. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top feels set, 26 to 30 minutes for two 9" pans, or 38 to 42 minutes for two 8" pans; a digital thermometer inserted into the center of the cakes should read 205°F. Remove the cakes from the oven, carefully loosen the edges, and allow them to cool for 15 minutes in the pans. Then turn them out of the pans and transfer them to a rack, right-side up, to cool to room temperature. 10. To make the frosting: In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, stir together - by hand or mixer - the cocoa powder, 1 cup (113g) of the confectioners' sugar, and the salt. Stir in the water and vanilla, scraping the bowl if necessary. 11. Add the butter and remaining confectioners' sugar, stirring to combine. Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the frosting at medium-high speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until lightened in color and fluffy, stopping halfway through to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. 12. To assemble the cake: Place one of the cake layers on a serving plate; tuck pieces of waxed or parchment paper underneath the edge of the cake to keep the plate clean. Spread the bottom layer with about 1 cup of frosting, enough to make a 1/4" to 1/2"-thick layer. Center the second layer bottom-side up (for a flat top) over the frosted layer and press gently to set it in place. 13. If your schedule permits, place the cake in the refrigerator or freezer, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 hours) to firm it up. This will make the layers less likely to slide around as you work, and the cake won't shed crumbs as you frost. If you're pressed for time, you can skip this step. 14. To finish the cake: For the best-looking cake, do the frosting in two steps. First, spread a very thin layer of frosting around the sides and across the top; this is called a crumb coat. You should be able to see the cake through the frosting in spots, it's that thin. Refrigerate the cake for 20 minutes to let this layer set. Again, skip this step if time is a factor. 15. Once the cake is chilled, use the remaining frosting to coat it thoroughly and evenly. If you have any leftover frosting, you can use it to pipe decorations on the top and/or around the base. 16. Store the cake, covered, at room temperature, or in the refrigerator if your kitchen is hot. Let it come to room temperature before serving. 17. Storage information: The cake will keep at room temperature, covered with a cake cover, for up to three days; in the refrigerator, covered, for up to one week, or in the freezer, well wrapped, for up to one month.

Steps:

• For the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray three 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray or grease with softened butter. If your oven cannot accommodate all 3 pans on one middle rack, while the oven is still cool, arrange 2 racks as close to the middle as possible, allowing enough space between them for the cakes on the lower rack to rise without touching the one above it.
• In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together; set aside. In a medium bowl (or a measuring cup), combine the buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract; set aside.
• In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar and light brown sugar. Using an electric mixer (or the stand mixer) on high, beat everything together until it's very light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beating between additions. Beat the batter until it's almost doubled in volume and very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, occasionally scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• With the mixer on low, gently beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Before it's fully combined, add in 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk until everything is well blended and no lumps remain.
• Divide the cake batter equally among the three cake pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan or rack placement halfway through baking. You'll know the cakes are done when they are golden brown, pulling away from the sides of the pan, and the tops spring back ever so slightly when you press them.
• Remove the cakes from the oven and let sit for five minutes to cool slightly before inverting them onto a wire baking rack to cool completely.
• Make the frosting and assemble the cake: Melt the chocolate either in a bowl in the microwave in 30-second intervals until melted, or in a double boiler or makeshift double boiler (a bowl set over a bowl of barely simmering water on the stove, but not touching the water), stirring occasionally until melted. The melted chocolate should be warm but never hot, with no visible chunks left.
• Add about ⅓ of the sour cream to the melted chocolate and using a spatula, combine until no white streaks remain. Repeat with another ⅓, and finally the last ⅓. The chocolate will stiffen a bit as you add the sour cream, and this is O.K.
• In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar and salt. Using an electric mixer (or the stand mixer) on low speed at first to avoid showering yourself with sugar, and then increasing to high speed, beat until everything is fluffy and almost pure white, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low, slowly add in the chocolate mixture and blend. Increase the speed to high and beat until everything is very fluffy and well combined, about 2 minutes.
• Once cakes are cooled, transfer one layer of cake, top side up, to a large parchment-lined plate. Use an offset or regular spatula to spread frosting onto the first layer of cake. Place second layer of cake on top, bottom side up (layering the rest of cake with the flat bottoms on top makes a cake with a straight shape, rather than domed). Repeat with remaining layer.
• Once all the layers are assembled, apply a thin layer of frosting all over the cake, making sure to cover the whole cake. Chill the cake for 2 hours, keeping the frosting out at room temperature.
• Remove the cake from the fridge and using either an offset spatula or a butter knife, give it another coat of frosting, doing whatever decorative patterns or swirls you wish: very smooth, or peaks and valleys.
• Finish and decorate with sprinkles however you please.