Mocha Layer Cake with Mocha Cream Cheese Frosting

I love birthdays. Not for the reasons you would first suspect, but because birthdays mean birthday cake. I love making fancy cakes from scratch. I rarely have the time to do this just for the fun of it, though. I need a legitimate excuse to bake one, so birthdays are perfect.

This year, I was fortunate to have tons of family and friends come up to Portland to celebrate my 30th birthday. It was extraordinary and memorable in every way. At one point a friend asked me incredulously, "You have to make your own birthday cake?!" To which I replied, "Yep, I get to make my cake! I can't wait."

This cake really was a perfect cake. The balance of chocolate and coffee, cream cheese frosting, moist layers, good ratio of cake to frosting... I received a lot of compliments and requests for the recipe.

Well, here it is! Adapted from a recipe I clipped from Bon Appetit years ago, this cake was just waiting for an excuse to be baked. Turns out turning 30 was the perfect excuse.

Mocha Layer Cake with Mocha Cream Cheese Frosting

~Print Recipe~

Cake

• 2 cups cake flour
• 3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
• 2 cups (packed) brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 teaspoons VIA instant espresso powder dissolved in 3/4 cup hot water

Frosting

• 1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon VIA instant espresso powder
• 1 1/2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream, divided
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 8oz. containers Philadelphia cream cheese
• Chocolate covered espresso beans or chocolate curls (optional)

Cake

1.  Generously butter two 9-inch cake pans with 2-inch sides. Dust with flour, tapping out the excess. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper. Position rack in the center of the oven; preheat to 325 degrees.
2. Sift or whisk cake flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt into medium bowl; set aside. In an electric mixer, beat butter in a large bowl until smooth. Add brown sugar and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each one. Mix in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, beating until just blended after each addition. Gradually add hot espresso-water mixture, beating just until smooth.
3. Divide batter evenly between pans (use a scale to measure the weight for precise results). To eliminate air bubbles, drop each pan flat onto the counter a few times from about a foot.   Bake cakes until tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on rack for 15 minutes. Run a small knife around the side to loosen the cakes. Invert cakes onto racks; lift pans off cakes and remove parchment. Place a wire rack on each cake and invert again so the top of the cake is up. Cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in plastic and store at room temp.)

Frosting

1. Sift or whisk cocoa powder into a large bowl. Add espresso powder. Bring 1 cup cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Slowly pour the hot cream over the cocoa mixture, whisking until cocoa is completely dissolved, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup cream and sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves. Chill until cold, at least 2 hours, up to 1 day.
2. Add cream cheese to chilled cocoa mixture. With an electric mixer, beat on low speed until blended and smooth. Increase speed to medium-high, bet until mixture is thick and medium-firm peaks form when beaters are lifted, about 2 minutes. (Do not overbeat or the mixture will curdle.)

 Assembly

1. Using a pastry brush, brush off crumbs from cakes. Place 1 cake layer top side up on a platter. (Lining the sides of the platter with tin foil will help keep it clean.) Spoon 1 3/4 cups frosting in dollops over top of the cake. Using an offset spatula, spread frosting evenly to the edges. 
2. Top with second cake layer, top side up, pressing to adhere. Spread thin layer of frosting over top and sides of the cake (this is the crumb layer). Chill 10 minutes. Using offset spatula, spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake, swirling decoratively. 
3. Top with chocolate covered espresso beans or chocolate curls.

Mocha Layer Cake with Mocha Cream Cheese Frosting

     Birthdays around here mean cakes. Not from a box, and no quick breads or single pan affairs. Real, labor-intensive, time-consuming, multi-step cakes. From scratch. Of course, it's all a labor of love.

     I really look forward to birthdays, because it's my excuse to try a decadent new cake recipe. These are not usually cakes I would whip up just because. (I don't have enough free time for that anyway.) So, I must choose wisely. My first, and possibly favorite, from-scratch layer cake was a chocolate with peppermint and white chocolate ordeal. Next I tried a "fire cracker" apple spice cake, which actually had a spicy warmness to it that took some getting used to, but turned out to be delicious. There was the maple cake, and now there is the mocha cake.

     The best part of this cake is the mocha cream cheese frosting. I'm always a fan of cream cheese frosting, but this one was really stellar. Coffee, chocolate, whipped cream and cream cheese collide--what's not to like?

Mocha Layer Cake with Mocha Cream Cheese Frosting

~Print Recipe~

Cake

• 2 cups cake flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups packed grown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 teaspoons instant espresso powder (Starbucks VIA) dissolved in 3/4 cups hot water

Frosting

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder (Starbucks VIA)
• 1 1/2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream, divided
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 8 oz. packages chilled cream cheese
• Chocolate curls (optional)

Cake

1. Position rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter two 9-inch cake pans, dust with flour and tap out the excess. Line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. (Place pans on parchment, trace the bottoms with a pencil, then cut out the circles.)
2. Sift 2 cups cake flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a large bowl until smooth. Add brown sugar and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. 
3. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, beating until just blended after each addition. Gradually add espresso/hot water mixture, beating just until smooth.
4. Divide batter between pans. (To remove air bubbles for smoother, more level cakes, lift each pan about a foot off of the counter and drop it back onto the counter, or tap pans on the counter a few times.) Bake cakes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
5. Cool cakes in pans on rack for 15 minutes. Run a small knife around the sides of the pans to loosen cakes. Invert cakes onto racks, lift pans off cakes and remove parchment. Place wire racks on top of the cakes, then invert again so the top side is up. Cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead.)

Frosting

1.  Sift cocoa powder into a large bow. Add espresso powder. Bring 1 cup cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Slowly pour cream over cocoa mixture, whisking until cocoa is completely dissolved. Add 1/2 cup cream and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Chill until cold, at least 2 hours or over night.
2. Add cream cheese to chilled cocoa mixture. Using an electric mixer, beat on low speed until blended and smooth. Increase speed to medium-high. Beat until mixture is thick and medium-firm peaks form when beaters are lifted, about 2 minutes. Do not over beat or the mixture will curdle.

Putting It All Together

1. Gently brush crumbs from cakes. Line the edges of cake platter with foil or parchment to keep it clean while you assemble the cake. Place 1 cake layer, top side up, on the platter.  Spoon about 1 1/2 cups frosting in dollops over top of cake. Spread frosting evenly to the edges. Top with second cake layer, top side up. Press to adhere. Spread a thin layer of frosting over top and sides of the cake. Chill 10 minutes.
2. Using an offset spatula, spread remaining frosting evenly over the top and sides of the cake. Top with chocolate curls, if using.

Serves 10 to 12

Spiced Layer Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Childhood birthday traditions never die. There will always be something special about the cake your mom used to make for you on your birthday (even if it came from a box). No one can take that away from you. When Mark was little, his mom made him a spice cake on his birthday. Now whenever I ask him what kind of cake I should make for him, it always comes back to spice cake.

One year it was a firecracker apple spice cake---which turned out to be actually a little spicy-hot which took some getting used to. It was different, but quite amazing once you got over the shock of it. This year--surprise!--I ended up making another spice cake for Mark's birthday. We briefly considered having a maple cake, but you know a birthday wouldn't be a birthday without a little tradition.

In the end we went with a spice cake adapted from Cook's Illustrated. I added a little bit more spice, made it a layer cake, filled with with maple whipped cream and added maple cream cheese frosting. Maybe it's just me, but I'm pretty sure you can never go wrong with maple. Add maple cream cheese frosting to my list of favorites. You know I am a sucker for cream cheese frosting, but this really was fantastic.

Don't just trust me on this one--try it! You might inadvertently create a brand new tradition for yourself.

Spiced Layer Cake with Maple Filling and Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

~Print Recipe~

For the cake: (I used slightly rounded measurements for all the spices and the ginger.)

• 2  1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for cake pans
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground gloves
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 3 large egg yolks at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1  3/4 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1 cup buttermilk at room temperature

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease (I like using the butter wrappers for this) and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Combine spices in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Heat 4 tablespoons butter in a small, light colored skillet or saucepan over medium heat until melted--1 or 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling the pan constantly, until the butter is light brown and has a nutty aroma, another 2 to 4 minutes. Add the spice mixture and cook, stirring constantly for another 15 seconds (this allows the spices to "bloom"). Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, egg yolks and vanilla to combine. With a mixer, cream remaining 12 tablespoons of butter with sugar and molasses at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl a couple of times during mixing. Reduce to medium speed and add cooled butter and spice mixture, ginger and half of egg mixture. Incorporate and scrape down sides before adding the rest of the egg mixture.
4. Reduce to low speed and add one-third of the flour mixture. Add half of the buttermilk and mix until just incorporated. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture and the rest of the buttermilk. Scrape down the bowl and add remaining flour mixture. Mix on medium speed until combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter a couple of times to incorporate any remaining flour.
5. Divide batter evenly between the two prepared pans. To remove air bubbles from thick batter, drag a butter knife through the batter in both pans in a zig-zag motion. Tap both pans on the counter a few times as well.
6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans on a wire rack.
7. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen. Put both cakes on a parchment lined pan and freeze for about a half an hour. (The cold cakes are easier to work with.) Using a long serrated knife, cut the top off of one of the cakes, creating a flat surface. Place cut cake on a large plate. This will become your bottom layer.

For the maple whip filling:

• 1 cup chilled whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup

1. Chill mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer. Pour whipping cream into bowl and beat on high speed until it forms soft peaks. 
2. Add maple syrup and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
3. Spread a thick layer filling on bottom layer of cake. Top with remaining cake.

For the maple cream cheese frosting:

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces and softened
• 1  1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
• 3/4 cup chopped and  toasted pecans

1. Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add maple syrup, vanilla, maple extract and powdered sugar. Beat until well combined.
2. Scoop out most of the frosting onto the top of the cake. It is easier to spread the frosting without picking up crumbs if you have a lot to work with. With an offset spatula, spread frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Coat sides and sprinkle top of frosted cake with toasted pecans.