vicious sweet tooth

Hey y’all!  Sorry I’ve been a little MIA, the hubby and I just got back from Mexico the other day and it’s been nonstop since we returned.  I’m going to try to catch up on the posting in the next few days.  But I noticed the other day that I forgot to post about the layer cake I made for my friend’s b-day a couple weeks ago. 

 

I made the Gran Marnier syrup the night before  so that all of the flavors could meld together. And I made the chocolate ganache right before I started the cake layers so it would have time to set up and not be too runny when I spread it between the many layers.

Gran Marnier Simple Syrup 

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1.5 Tbsp Gran Marnier

Combine water and sugar and bring to a slight boil until fully dissolved.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Once cooled add the gran marnier.  

Chocolate Ganachne (used between the layers)  

• 120z of good chocolate (I used Ghiradelli milk chocolate b/c that is all I could find at the store)
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Gently melt chocolate – I used the microwave for about 1 min and then added the heavy cream.  Whisk until smooth and creamy and let cool.  

Prepare cake pans by lining the bottom with parchement paper.  

Start by sifting the two flours, baking soda, and salt together. I like to sift them onto a sheet of wax or parchment paper because the paper can then be picked up and the contents poured out in an easy to control manner.  

Break up the chocolate into 1/2-inch (1 to 1.5 cm) squares and combine with the cacao powder.  

Bring the water to a boil and measure out 1-1/4 cup. Pour over the chocolate and whisk gently until the chocolate has completely dissolved. Using water heightens the chocolate flavor of the mixture.  

Once the flour has been sifted and the chocolate melted into boiling water, cream the unsalted butter with a standing mixer equipped with a flat beater. Add the dark brown sugar and mix until butter and sugar are evenly mixed. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula.  

One at a time, add the eggs and beat on medium-high until fully incorporated.  

Mix in sour cream and vanilla extract. Scrape the bowl down.  

On low speed, mix in a third of the flour mixture followed by half of the chocolate liquid. Repeat with another third of the flour and the rest of the chocolate. Finally, mix in the last third of the flour. Stop the mixer once the batter has just combined.  

Pour the batter into each cake pan as evenly as possible.  

Bake both cake pans in a 350°F (175°C) oven on a rack set to the center position for 25 minutes or until a toothpick or wood skewer thrust into the center of the cake and withdrawn is clean or only has dry crumbs attached. Remove both pans from the oven and allow them to site on a wire rack for five minutes.  

Run a knife along the circumference of each round to release the cake from the pan. Invert the pan over a wire rack. The cake should gently release and rest on the rack.  

Immediately remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake. Waiting until the cake begins to cool may result in some of the cake surface sticking to the paper and lifting off as you remove the paper.  

Allow the cake rounds to cool completely.  I placed the cake rounds in the freezer  for a while to firm up so that trimming them to make even would be easier.  

After the layers are cooled begin making the layers.  Paint the top with the Gran Marnier syrup, enough to soak into the cake.  Then add a nice thick dollop of chocolate ganache to spread over each layer.  Keep going until you reach the last layer you want.  For the very top layer, I just brushed on the simple syrup, not the chocolate ganache  

Here are my completed 4 layers  

 

 

 While Cake is setting up/baking make Vanilla Buttercream frosting.  

Vegan Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream – Adapted from Vegan Cup Cakes Take Over The World (I did about 2 batches)  

• 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
• 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated  margarine
• 3 1/2 cups Confectioners’ Sugar, sifted
• 1/4  cup plain soy milk or soy creamer (I used almond milk)
• 1  1/2 tsp vanilla Extract

Beat the shortening and margarine together until well-combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and soy milk and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy. Once the buttercream frosting was done and the layer cake had set up in the freezer for a little bit so that it would be firm when I iced it, I added the buttercream frosting and did a crumb layer.  I couldn’t find the exact tool I thought I had to make it completely smooth, so I did my best and added a thicker layer of buttercream frosting, let that set and then did my best to smoother it out once it was a little firmer.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosted Layer Cake

  I added colored sprinkle stars to in about an inch in length around the entire cake leaving the center clean.  I also added large dots to the outside of the cake, basically trying to draw attention away from the not-so-perfect smoothness of the cake.

 And TA-DA!  The Final product.  I’m extremely happy how it turned out considering the tools I had to work with and the fact that this was my first homemade 4-Layer cake! Next time I make a layer cake, I might do a flavored buttercream or cream cheese frosting between the layers.  I think the chocolate ganache was great in here, but I might add a lot more between the layers because although you could taste the rich layer of ganache, you couldn’t see that well amongst the chocolate cake.  But it was delicious!

 I didn’t get to take a photo of the inside, boo!  But it got rave reviews, which is all that mattered to me. 

 Peace out guys….