Tag: Chocolate Buttercream

My Take on the Viral Dot Cake

It seems appropriate to break my blogging hiatus with my take on a viral craze. If you’ve been on social media lately you more than likely have seen a post, video and/or reel of the latest dessert craze…. Dot Cakes. Originated by a bakery of the same name on Long Island, the cakes are also being sold at Butterfield Market in NYC where people have waited in line for hours to score one or more of these 8 oz. cake filled cups topped with frosting and nonpareils. You may be wondering what’s the big deal and truthfully, I am as well. It’s just cake and frosting completely covered with nonpareils. And if you are not familiar, nonpareils are those round sprinkles (hence Dot Cake) that don’t taste as good as your traditional sprinkles (jimmies) and their colors tend to bleed. One thing people have been enjoying with these cakes is the ASMR inducing sound made when you scrape your spoon across the dots.  I’m not one to jump on a bandwagon but I did want to create my own version using my favorite cake and frosting combination – yellow cake and chocolate frosting – topped with my favorite sprinkles, rainbow jimmies.

When it came to making the cake, I decided to go the easy route and used a yellow box cake. I normally tweak the recipe to make the flavor a bit more homemade, but I opted to follow the directions on the box and baked the cake in a 9×13 baking pan. Once it was done, I let it cool to room temperature in the pan and then refrigerated it until I was ready to assemble my cakes. While my cake cooled, I made a batch of Chocolate Buttercream (recipe below) that was the perfect amount for the six cakes I made.

To assemble the cakes, I inverted 8oz snack cups into the cakes and after flipping them over I pressed the cake into the bottom of the cups. Next, I frosted the cake right to brim of the cup and smoothed it out using an off-set spatula. I poured a good amount of sprinkles onto a plate then pressed the cakes into them. It’s best to do this right after smoothing the frosting while it’s still soft so the sprinkles can adhere well. And that was it!

I have read some reviews saying these cakes are basically just an oversized cupcake, I wouldn’t really say that. You wouldn’t eat a cupcake with a spoon and you’re not going to peel the cup away from the cake. I find it’s the perfect portion of cake contained in a cup enabling you to get every bit of frosting and cake, and there’s nothing to complain about with that!

Chocolate Buttercream

  • Servings: 2 1/2 cups
  • Print

Ingredients:

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:

In a microwave safe bowl melt the chocolate chips in 15-second intervals, stirring between each interval, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl using a hand mixer cream the butter until pale and creamy. Add half of the confectioner’s sugar and continue mixing on low speed until combined. Add the remaining half of the sugar and continue mixing until well combined. Add the melted chocolate, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and salt and continue mixing on low speed until well combined.

Finally, add the heavy cream and raise the mixer speed to medium and whip the frosting until it’s smooth and creamy.

Raspberry Almond Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Hi there… It’s been a while! I have been baking, but I haven’t really been baking anything new to share. I did tweak a Blueberry Crumb Muffin recipe that was quite yummy that I intended on sharing, but didn’t photograph so it didn’t become a blog post. I’ll have to whip up a batch soon to share especially since berry season is right around the corner. I’ve also been doing quite a bit of crocheting. I used up most of my remnant stash of Bernat Blanket Yarn to create a colorful granny square blanket. I’ll be sharing that soon. I’ve also been working on a sunburst granny square cardigan for myself. Full disclaimer, I’ve been working on it for over a year. I go through bursts of making the squares and then take a break. I believe I am only a few squares away from having enough to start stitching it together so hopefully it doesn’t take me another year to complete. But today I am sharing a cake where all the flavors work perfectly well together. A Raspberry Almond Cake with Chocolate Frosting. So, if you like chocolate-covered almonds, raspberry truffles, any almond dessert, etc. this cake is for you!

To start I made the raspberry curd. Yes, raspberry curd. While most people think of citrus –especially lemon – when it comes to curd you can pretty much make curd with any fruit. The steps are basically the same you may just have to adjust the amount of sugar you use depending on the sweetness of the fruit. Once the curd was done, I let it cool in the refrigerator overnight so it could thicken.

For the cake, I used a white cake mix that I doctored by adding in buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla extract and a decent amount of almond extract to get the perfect almond flavor without it being too overpowering – a full tablespoon. You may think this is too much, but any less and the almond flavor won’t stand out. I wanted the flavors to complement each other but also to stand out on their own.

Any to top it all off a simple chocolate buttercream frosting. Perfectly chocolatey without being overly sweet! I may have enjoyed a few spoonful’s of the leftover frosting.

Put all those together and you have a cake that may just become your go-to when looking for something special but not too difficult to make.

Raspberry Almond Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

Raspberry Curd:

11-12oz. Raspberries (frozen or fresh)

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

6 egg yolks

1 stick unsalted butter, cubed

Almond Cake:

1 15oz white cake mix

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 vegetable (or canola) oil

3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

1/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature

1 tablespoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Buttercream:

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (1 1/4 cups), at room temperature

3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

5 tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Fresh raspberries and sliced almonds for decorating, optional

Directions:

For the Raspberry Curd: In a medium saucepan combine the raspberries and the lemon juice. Cook on medium low heat until the raspberries begin to burst, and you can smash them. Once the raspberries are mostly liquid press them through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Allow it to cool.

In a medium saucepan lightly beat the egg yolks and then add in the sugar. Whisk the eggs yolks and sugar together until well combined. Then whisk in the cooled raspberry mixture. Cook on low heat whisking constantly until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cubed butter until it has completely melted. Strain the curd through a fine mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl. Allow it to cool to room temperature and then place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface then cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until the curd has thicken.

For the Almond Cake: In a large bowl add the cake mix, eggs, oil, buttermilk, sour cream and both extracts. Beat with a hand mixer on low for 30 seconds and then increase speed to medium and continue beating for about 2 minutes until the ingredients are well combined. Do not overbeat. Divide the batter among 2 8-inch cake round pans that have been sprayed with baking spray. Bake in a 350 F preheated oven for 26-28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Chocolate Buttercream: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter on high speed until creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl and then add the sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream, salt and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for about 30 seconds and then gradually increase the speed to high and beat for an additional minute until all the ingredients are well incorporated and the frosting has come together.

To assemble the cake: If necessary, level the cake rounds. Place one of the cake rounds on a cake board or cake platter, flat side down. Using the chocolate frosting, pipe a dam around the perimeter of this cake round. Fill the cake with the cooled raspberry curd (you will only need a little more than half of the curd). Place the other cake round on top, with the flatter side as the top of the cake. Crumb coat the cake with the frosting and then refrigerate for 10 minutes so it can set. Finish frosting the cake with the remaining chocolate buttercream. If you would like you could pipe swirls on top of the cake with the remaining buttercream and then top each with a fresh raspberry. If using, decorate the sides of the cake with almond slices by simply pressing them on.

Recipe first appeared on Bead Yarn & Spatula