Chocolate Espresso Cake

Happy Father’s Day!

I hope you all had a great Father’s Day surrounded by loved ones and great food.  When I asked my dad what he wanted for dessert for Father’s Day, he requested a moist chocolate cake with the espresso frosting I used on my devil’s food cake.  I love chocolate cake, and the ingredients are fairly basic, so I was more than happy to comply.

Cake Baking Adventures

Raisins or Espresso Beans?

I decided I wanted to garnish the cake with chocolate covered espresso beans, so I went to the store and bought some in bulk.  When I got home, I reached my hand into the bag, pulled out a candy, and popped one in my mouth.  To my dismay, I realized I had accidentally bought a bag full of chocolate covered raisins!  I like chocolate covered raisins well enough, but I like chocolate covered espresso beans so much more.  For all you coffee lovers out there, I’m sure you could imagine my dismay haha.  But not to worry!  I fixed my mistake by buying the real thing later 😉 .

Heat and Buttercream Frosting

It was pretty hot out today and the weather turned stormy late in the afternoon.  I enjoyed the moments of torrential rain and intermittent bouts of lightening.  It reminded me of a Midwest storm.  However, all of the heat made my frosting difficult to work with since it kept melting the butter!  So while I was waiting for my dad to finish his turn in Scrabble, I would take the cake out of the fridge and quickly try to smooth it out before it became too sticky to work with again.  Then I’d stick it back in the fridge when it was my turn.  This process went on throughout the whole game haha.

In the end, the frosting firmed up nicely and the cake was a hit with my family that came over for Father’s Day dinner.

Blessings on your home and table,                                                                                                                  ~Natalie

Chocolate Espresso Cake

Serves 12

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup dark cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon espresso powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup strong hot coffee

Frosting:

• 3 cups unsalted butter (6 sticks), softened
• 8 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup espresso powder
• salt to taste

Directions:

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease three 8″ cake pans and line with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder.
3. In a large bowl, combine granulated sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
4. Add 1/2 of flour mixture to the sugar mixture and stir until combined.  Add buttermilk, then the second half of the flour mixture.
5. Pour in hot coffee.
6. Pour batter into cake pans and bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Frosting:

1. In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil and add espresso powder.  Reduce to simmer and stir until espresso powder has dissolved.  Let cool completely
2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy.  Mix in powdered sugar, a cup at a time, until well mixed.  Mix in the cocoa powder.  Add espresso mixture, one Tablespoon at a time, to taste.  Add salt as needed.

Assembly:

1. Level the tops of cakes with a large serrated knife or a cake leveler.
2. Pipe a ring of frosting around the outer edge of the first layer and fill the center with frosting.  Place the second layer on top.  Repeat this process two more times until the top of the cake is covered in frosting.
3. Frost the sides of the cake.
4. Pipe swirls of frosting around the outer edge of the top of the cake.
5. If leaving in the fridge long-term, cover the cake with a lid or loosely with saran wrap.

For other layer cake recipes, check out my devil’s food cake!