as you wish

“Chocolate cake with the kind of icing that’s on carrot cake except chocolate flavored” was Zachary’s birthday cake request. I decided a semi-dark chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting would fit the bill, and I was excited to make my first real cake with layers.



This chocolate cake was good – actually, the best I can remember eating. I’m seriously not a baker, but it hardly took any more effort to make than if I had used a box (and tasted way better!) I also don’t have much of a sweet tooth (Rachel can attest to my excitement at the Liberty Tavern when I discovered that cheese sometimes appears on dessert menus) but I found myself wanting to dig into this.



The cream cheese frosting went with the cake particularly well. I used my variation on a recipe off the back of the powdered sugar box, but I added extra cream cheese after an initial taste. It was so smooth and light that it made the actual frosting of the cake easy. A buttercream frosting would have been stiffer and hidden the seam between the layers a little better but nobody seemed to mind.

Dark Chocolate Cake
By Marg on recipezaar.com

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 and 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup Dutch process or dark baking cocoa (you can use regular cocoa if you prefer, or half of each kind)
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 to 1 cup boiling water (see note below)

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8 inch or 9 inch round baking pans, or one 13x9 inch pan. If you use 8 inch rounds, make sure they are at least 2.5 inches deep or the batter might overflow.

In large mixer bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Stir in boiling water by hand (your batter will be very thin, but not to worry). I used 3/4 cup boiling water because I live in a swamp, but you may want to use a full cup if you’re at a high elevation or have very dry weather.

Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 45 minutes for rectangular pan, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool at least 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire racks.

Tips

If you plan on making a freestanding cake that you’re not going to serve right out of the pan:
1. Use a pan with a removable bottom or a springform pan.
2. Line the bottom with a cutout of wax paper or parchment paper.
3. Let the cake cool completely before removing it from the pan.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1 dash salt (to taste)
• 4 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon milk or cream
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, cocoa, salt, milk or cream, and vanilla, and mix well. Spread on top of cake.

Tips

If you’re making a layer cake, frost the top of the first layer and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. This will help the frosting set up a little bit before you put the second cake layer on top of it.

This recipe makes more than enough for a two-layer round cake. In addition to a few tweaks, I made one and a half times the original recipe because I hate running out. So if you follow this recipe, you’ll have probably an extra ½ cup of frosting. If you don’t like extra frosting or are making a square cake from the pan (and just frosting the top), this recipe can be cut into 2/3 very easily.