Whew, It’s been a whirlwind few weeks! We’ve had quite the terrible weather here in Texas, make my commutes to Amarillo less than ideal. I know this is common in some parts of the country (including where I grew up in Indiana), but people here just aren’t equipped to deal with it, which means the ice just sits on the ground until it temperatures get above freezing. On top of that, I’ve been without a functioning computer for a while, which has made blogging rather difficult, but I’m finally back up and running. Thank goodness for Apple Care!
Anyway, during my last trip, I was trying to come up with ideas for seasonal desserts, but I couldn’t get chocolate out of my head. I was craving a super chocolaty cake with even more chocolaty frosting, and I just couldn’t think of anything else. It may surprise you, but I rarely crave cake. I love making it, I love decorating it, but when it comes to eating it, I’m perfectly satisfied with a small slice. That all changed when I made this cake a few weeks ago. I used the same chocolate cake recipe (which has now become my go to chocolate cake), but I paired it down to make a 3 layer 6-inch cake. I love that it’s a one bowl recipe that doesn’t even require a mixer!
Up until recently, I had never experimented much with cocoa powders. I just used Hershey’s since it was cheap and easy to find. Plus, I’ve read numerous reviews that it was just as good as some of the fancier European brands. I didn’t really want to spend a lot of money on a bog box of fancy cocoa only to be disappointed. However, on my last trip to Central Market here in Dallas, I noticed some different types of cocoa powder in the bulk section, so I bought a few dollars worth of Valrhona
I wish I could tell you that it didn’t make a difference, but it did. Let’s just say that I was not satisfied with only one slice of this cake. It was like chocolate heaven. I’m not telling you this to push a product, but I thought the information might be useful, since it’s something I’ve been curious about for a long time. If you’re baking a chocolate cake for a special occasion, splurge on the good cocoa. Next on my list to try are Guittard and Cacao Berry. If you’ve had good experiences with other kinds of cocoa, I’d love to hear about it.
If you don’t like malt flavor, don’t worry. This frosting doesn’t taste like malt. In fact, no one knew there was any malt powder in this, but it does give the frosting an unusual sweetness and depth of flavor. I know I claim that a lot of things are my favorite, but this frosting is my favorite so far. Even my fiancé, who is rarely excited by cake, loved this and begged me not to share too much of it. So what are you waiting for? If you like chocolate (or even if you don’t), go make this cake!
