Opels Chocolate Stack Cake Recipes

Steps:

• 1. CAKE: Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mix & sugar. Add buttermilk and mix well. Add oil and mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat for 2 minutes with electric mixer.
• 2. Pour into 3 greased and floured round cake pans. Bake on 350 for approximately 18-20 minutes or until done. Cool in pans for 10 minutes then turn out onto a cloth and cool completely. Once completely cooled, cut each layer into half by using a bread knife or dental floss. Ice cake while icing is still warm. *If you prefer you can spoon 4 to 5 tablespoons of batter into cake pans and bake approximately 8 minutes or until they start to brown around edges. Keep repeating until batter is used up. If I want those very thin layers I just make my Opel's Chocolate Stack Cake, which is posted.
• 3. ICING: Do not make icing until layers are cooled. In a medium-size heavy saucepan, combine sugar & cocoa. Add milk, stir and then add butter. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then boil for an additional seven minutes. Turn off heat and add vanilla. Stir for one minute...icing will be thin but will harden later. Generously ice between cooled layers and top of cake. Icing will drip down sides, which will ice the sides. Keep spooning icing on top of cake as it puddles in bottom of cake plate. The icing will be thin then it'll get to the gooey stage while spooning on top but will harden later. Leave cake alone until icing hardens.
• 4. Note: I use a skewer or an ice pick to punch a few holes in cake as I'm icing it so that some of the icing can seep down into the layers.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with molasses and buttermilk, beating well after each addition., Drop 2 scant 1/4 cupfuls of batter, at least 7 in. apart, onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. With well-floured fingers, pat each into a 5- to 6-in. circle. Bake 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter., To assemble, place 1 cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 2 tablespoons apple butter. Repeat layers 4 times; top with a sixth layer. Repeat to make 2 more stack cakes. Refrigerate, covered, until serving. If desired, serve with additional apple butter.

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the rack in the middle position.
• 2. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• 3. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed until wet and grainy.
• 4. Add the molasses. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a flexible spatula to get all of the molasses into the mixture.
• 5. Add the eggs one at a time. Scrape all the way to the bottom of the bowl and mix on low speed.
• 6. Alternately add the buttermilk and the dry mixture about a quarter at a time. Stop the mixer to scrape the bowl and turn it on again on low speed for about 10 seconds. The mixture should be stiff like a soft cookie dough.
• 7. Shape the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• 8. Divide the dough into 6 or 8 equal portions and place each one on a round piece of parchment paper a little larger than a 9-inch cake pan. Roll out the dough to the size of the parchment. Place the cake pan over the disk and trim away the excess around the edge.
• 9. Leaving the parchment paper underneath, lift the disks onto baking sheets and bake them for approximately 10 minutes, or until the top surface appears dry and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
• 10. Slide the disks off the baking sheet onto a flat surface to cool.
• 11. To make the filling, combine all the ingredients in a large, heavy-bottom saucepan and bring to a light simmer. Immediately transfer to the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse into a thick paste.
• 12. To assemble the cake, spread about 1 cup of the filling onto each layer, taking care to center each disk on top of the one beneath it. Repeat until all the layers are used. Do not put apple filling on top of the cake.
• 13. Wrap the cake well and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours. This gives the apple filling time to work itself into the cake. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve chilled.