The Icing on the Cake

Conveniently, Bob's birthday is the same as my blog-iversay, so I made him a cake which also secretly serves as the Mignardise celebration cake.

Oh what a cake it was!

And I say "was" because there's not a crumb left. We (four of us) ate that cake, slice by slice, then sliver by sliver, until there was nothing left.

I've made this cake many times before, but for some reason it tasted even better this time. Or maybe I just forgot how good it is.

Or it could have been the frosting, which was new to me, but an old family favorite of Bob's.

Or maybe the fact that is was a double celebration cake.

Whatever.

It's so moist, dark, rich and chocolate-y without being too sweet. And not at all complicated.

It comes from one of my all-time favorite bakeries, Rosie's.

Judy Rosenberg had to go ahead and write a cookbook so that we could have her deliciousness any time we want in the privacy of our own homes.

Note that some of the ingredients say "room temperature". I used to dismiss this advice because I could never remember to take them out of the fridge in time. But after reading this article, I have seen the error of my ways and I am now reformed. It really does make a difference.
Also, even though there's coffee in the cake, you won't taste it. It just makes the chocolate richer.

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

(sift first, then measure)

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup hot, strong brewed coffee

1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs, lightly beaten with a fork, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 345 degrees. Lightly grease two 8" layer cake pans with butter or cooking spray for baking. Or line with parchment circles.

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler placed over simmering water, then turn off the heat.

Sift together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, blend the hot coffee, sour cream and vegetable oil with a whisk.

With the mixer on low speed, add the coffee mixture in a stream to the dry ingredients and mix until blended, about 35 seconds. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the eggs one at a time and mix on medium-low speed after each addition until smooth, about 15 seconds. Scrape the bowl each time. Add the chocolate and mix until the batter is uniform in color, about 10 seconds more.

Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Tap each one gently on the counter to remove air bubbles. Place on the center rack of the oven.

Bake until the cake springs back to the touch and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-38 minutes. Do not wait for a crust to form.

Cool the layers in the pans on a rack before removing.

Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter in a medium sauce pan.

Add 1 cup brown sugar and boil over low heat for 2 minutes.

Add 1/4 cup whole milk and bring to a boil again.

Remove from the heat and add 2 cups sifted powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp.vanilla.

Add more milk as necessary to make a the right consistency for spreading.