Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake - Cupcake Style

cupcakeoldfashionedchocolate

I didn't have some sort of memory lapse and make the chocolate chocolate cupcakes for the second week in a row. There just wasn't enough time to make the rugalagh for TWD... I hope you guys don't stop reading! Last week, it was my friend's birthday so I decided to bake her cupcakes. She hasn't had anything I baked recently, since I put her through my rigorous chocolate chip cookie testing last year...haha Those were the days when only the batter tasted good while the baked result resembled something more like a hockey puck. It wasn’t until I stumbled on Cook’s Illustrated last Christmas when my desserts were finally edible. Not to mention, I also started to measure properly and stir the dry ingredients so that I wouldn’t end up with a cake that tasted soapy and bitter. Even though some may find CI to be a little annoying because they tend to focus on only one particular way of doing things and can put a limit on the creativity, I think they lay down the basics really well for an inexperienced baker. It also helps keep paranoid bakers like me from thinking too much and to just go with it. If I’m given too many choices, I’ll probably never end up baking anything! It’s kind of like when there are 2 parking spots in front of me and I end up parking in both. I hope you guys don’t take this to be a sign of a bad driver.. haha.. it’s just that I am that indecisive.

Earlier in the year during the PBS telethon, CI featured the old fashioned chocolate cake, which looked absolutely irresistible! I actually decided to bake a cupcake version of this recipe one hour before leaving for school. I even thought I could multitask and whip the eggs and sugar while measuring out the dry ingredients. It wasn’t until I tasted the batter when I realized I forgot to add salt! Luckily, I used salted butter, but there was still something that was definitely lacking. Thank god people eat with their eyes and seem to have some sort of obsession with frosting. I’m not usually into frostings other than whipped cream or cream cheese, but swiss meringue buttercream on the other hand, actually I should say, this SMBC from Cassie’s How to Eat a Cupcake is definitely worth the calories. It was simply melt in your mouth and creamy without coming off as tasting like a stick of butter. To help boost the flavour of the almost salt-less chocolate cake, I made a coffee flavoured frosting and used salted butter... hoping that the salt in the frosting would compensate.

After school, I made the frosting, but totally forgot that I wasn't bringing these until the next day. I wasn't into the idea of making people sick so I put the frosting in the fridge all ready to go in a piping bag. I was totally not expecting a lumpy curdled frosting the next day after I let the frosting come to room temperature. It was really gross and there was brown liquid from the coffee and vanilla separating out. Instead of taking out the mixer, somehow I thought I could hand whip this curdled mess into frosting again with my cake spatula. Well, after some vigorous mixing it was not coming together, but I already spent so much time on it, I didn't want to give in and take out the mixer. Then, it was almost like magic and the frosting came together. I could have easily avoided this whole mess had I just frosted the cupcakes and stored them in the fridge. But, no, my overly paranoid self was afraid that refridgeration would unfluffify the cake. I also wouldn't have to deal with the aftereffects of arm pain from all that hand mixing.. haha I know.. very embarassing!

The reaction? Well, the first thing people commented on was how amazing the frosting was, but the cake part was really good too. How can a cake made without salt taste good? I guess it’s true, a cake is simply a vehicle for frosting. This has officially taken over the place of Dorie's devil’s food white out cake as my favourite chocolate cake, mostly because of its texture. My friend actually ate 3 in one sitting! I'm not even going to mention how much butter was in the frosting alone, but then again, birthdays are only once a year. Sorry for the bad pics again, but I have no idea where my camera charger is so I took these with my cell phone.

cupcakeoldfashionedchocolate (2)

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Adapted from Cassie's How to eat a Cupcake
* I used salted butter to compensate for the lack of salt in my cake (it wasn't too salty because it was coffee flavoured, but I definitely wouldn't use salted butter for vanilla frosting)
* I increased the amount of butter by 1/2 a stick because the frosting was still really soft
* I added 2 teaspoons of instant coffee

Makes about 4 cups (enough to frost 24 cupcakes)

Ingredients
4 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup (2.5 sticks) salted butter, at room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant coffee

Directions
Put egg whites and sugar into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees).
Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until frosting appears thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; dissolve instant coffee in vanilla and pour mixture into mixing bowl and continue beating 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles.

27 comments:

  1. these look so nice and i adore coffee and chocolate. the swirl is really pretty :)

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  2. I love the frosting AND the actual cupcake! :0)

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  3. It's OK - I would trade you some rugelach for one of these...what gorgeous piping! That's a skill I haven't even begun to master.

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  4. Actually, the pictures aren't that bad. Just some shadows :) Yummy! At first I thought it was peanut butter frosting. I wish I had someone who bakes homemade stuff for my birthday and holidays. I just get box cake. I really need to teach my friends. Or my parents haha I think we need to make a post on how it takes just as much effort to make from a box as it does from scratch, just with more measuring.

    I've heard good reviews of Rachel's, but I've never eaten there. Slippery Rock is about 10 minutes away from the Outlets (and probably less crowded).

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  5. Wow, these are a perfect birthday gift! I would definitely love these. I can't seem to take my eyes off of the decadent frosting!

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  6. That frosting does look very tempting. Glad it all worked out and that everyone enjoyed them.

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  7. the cupcakes are gorgeous!! Yeah don't tell your friend about the butter..ha!

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  8. Those look so pretty! I'm a fellow TWD baker, and I was thinking that it would be nice if we all could chip in and get Laurie some small token/gift for all the work she does. Would you be willing to contribute? If I can get enough people, it would only be about $1 per person. No pressure :-) Let me know! bethberg12@yahoo.com

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  9. You park in two parking spaces? Ha I love the image that conjures up. I can sooooo see that :)

    Love the butter cream frosting. The coffee gives it this real beautiful color, and if you said you actually like it, well then I know I will too... my 'we don't need no stinking frosting' buddy :)

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  10. Swiss meringue? I'm so impressed. It looks amazingly delicious!

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  11. I thought your pictures were pretty good, actually. I can't get rid of the shadows even with an actual camera. Anyway, I love your swirl. And chocolate and coffee in the same sentence sounds like heaven to me.

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  12. OM goodness how fun it is to surprise your eyes with something different form the expected. I love the frilly icing atop your "vehicles" he he. Great job! Yes, there is absolutely nothing like the creamy smoothness SMBC - no grainy sugaryness. YEP People always love the difference they just don know it. Your friend is special. : )
    AmyRuth

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  13. The icing IS the best bit! Most of the time i have my sisters icing, and she has my cake minus icing! But i do find sometimes it tastes purely of butter which isnt so good - yours is amazingly piped! x

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  14. Lovely cupcakes, steph. And the cell phone does a downright decent job! I left you a comment on my post in answer to your Q about freezing. I've had good luck freezing cake (especially dense cakes like pound cake), and it did wonders for Dorie's chocolate cupcakes.
    Nancy

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  15. These cupcakes look beautiful. They sound like they were a real hit, especially if this cake recipe is now your fave!

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  16. I love these! Your frosting looks so adorable and delicate. And your phone took those photos? Wow!

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  17. hi steph
    the cupcakes looks so tempting ..indeed old fashioned chocolate cake has stood the test of time, isnt it ....and thanks for dropping by...lot of your posts to catch on.

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  18. :) I'm glad you love the frosting! It's the best!

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  19. You can tell how good the frosting is just by looking at it. Yumm!

    I'm glad the SMBC came together for you :)

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  20. those cupcakes look so moist... must taste so good too... :)

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  21. Hey have you ever considered joining Foodbuzz (foodbuzz.com)? You get extra cash and kitchen goodies as long as you display their ad. If you want more info, email me at mooseymoosecc@hotmail.com.

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  22. That frosting looks gorgeous! I need to make cupcakes and decorate things with frosting. I had to smile when reading your post thinking about how paranoid I get about things going dry or whatever before people get to eat them. I would've kept the cupcakes out of the fridge too. You can imagine how much I stress out about giving Christmas cookies that all have different scents and textures (some dry some moist). And what if people don't eat the soft cookies first and by the time they eat them they're all dry and gross?? Anyway enough of my paranoia. ;) Great cupcakes!

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  23. What camera do you use? Your pictures are so good! I really like how you did the icing swirl on those cupcakes.

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  24. These are so pretty! I love how you swirled the frosting on them.

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  25. Do you have CI's chocolate cake recipe on your blog somewhere?

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