Double Chocolate Layer Cake - aka THAT Chocolate Cake

As mentioned in my previous post, I've been busy baking for my hubby's birthday this week. I asked Mr. B what he wanted kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. He simply responded "I want THAT chocolate cake". Okay, I have many different cakes in my baking arsenal, but I knew exactly what he was referring to. A few years back, I found the recipe for THAT chocolate cake aka double chocolate layer cake on epicurious.com. When I first tried this recipe, I had concerns as I'm not that crazy about cake recipes that use oil as its fat source (really much prefer using butter for its flavor). With the intense flavors of chocolate, cocoa powder and coffee, the flavor of the cake is intensely chocolatey, and you don't miss the butter at all. The cake is extremely moist, but it doesn't have the tight crumb that you get from butter based recipes. The accompanying ganache recipe is fine to use, but I do like varying the frosting for this cake. My only adjustment to the original recipe is using bittersweet chocolate in place of the semi-sweet for the cake and frosting.

Clearly, Mr. B is in good company as this is the site's most popular cake recipe and has received rave reviews...over a 1,100+ reviews for this single recipe, which is insane! You will now have to excuse me, as I'm going to pour my self a tall glass of milk and enjoy a slice of this cake! :)

Banana Cupcake w. Chocolate Buttercream

Happy Birthday Mr. B!!!! My hubby is such a huge supporter of my baking endeavors (as well as everything else in my life), and it is only fitting for me to dedicate my baking time this week to him. His dessert cravings are pretty simple and straightforward --- chocolate...and more chocolate. Of course I am happy to oblige!

I wanted him to start his special day with some cupcakes to share with his colleagues at work. One of my favorite banana cake recipes comes from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home To Yours. This recipe is usually made in a bundt pan, but it translates nicely into cupcakes. Unlike a lot of other banana cake/bread recipes, this cake isn't overly dense, and has a light texture and is very moist.

If you are interested in making this recipe, Dorie has written about this recipe at Serious Eats. Please note that this link makes a half batch. The recipe I used is from Dorie's cookbook and is a full batch. My only modification to the full batch recipe is to add 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg, and increase the vanilla extract to 2 tsp. I yielded 28 cupcakes from the recipe.

For the chocolate frosting, I stumbled onto this delicious chocolate buttercream recipe on Joy The Baker's blog. The unexpected ingredient in this recipe is Ovaltine, and I couldn't resist trying this out. I made the buttercream as written, but did cut back on the powdered sugar by 1 cup (as it seemed to be a bit much). I loved the light, creamy texture, and enjoyed the malt flavor from the Ovaltine. This is a terrific recipe!

The combination of the banana cake and the chocolate buttercream was absolutely delicious. Most importantly, I got a huge thumbs up from my birthday boy! :)

Chocolate Graham Cupcakes With Toasted Marshmallow

This weekend, my dear friend Melissa and I were indulging in a spa day to celebrate her birthday, and I wanted to make Melissa a special treat to mark her special day. There is nothing more decadent that getting totally pampered and topping the day with a decadent treat!

I love making this cupcake as much as people love receiving and eating them. What's not to love --- a graham base, a rich chocolate cake, and a fluffy toasted marshmallow topping. I love making it as it gives me an excuse to create that delicious fluffy marshmallow topping and toasting it with my blowtorch!

I've previously posted on this receipe, which you can find here. I've gotten a teensy bit better with my photography thanks to the discovery of the macro button on my camera, so be kind to my old photos! :)