For the past several weeks I’ve seen these amazing, beautiful cakes and cupcakes across Instagram where you cover the entire top of the cake with different piping shapes. I decided to practice my piping skills and make this fall blossom cake, and I have to say: I’m even impressed. I also loved this bake because I so rarely get to make cakes, but I’ve decided that I can absolutely take full cakes to my office. I even brought little plates and a knife for cutting to encourage folks to dig in.
The recipe of the cake is adapted slightly from A Stay at Home Chef, and it is absolutely delicious. The next time I make it I’m going to add vanilla bean paste to the batter instead of extract to see what happens; I’d also like to make chocolate almond and chocolate orange versions, so stay tuned. And yes – the amount of buttercream you need for this cake (and the mess it makes in your kitchen) is just as unreal as it seems. I say I used about 12 cups of powdered sugar in this…but to be totally honest, I lost count.
Ingredients
For the chocolate cake
- ▢1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sour milk (see tip below) or buttermilk
- 3/4 cup warm water (between 100 and 110 degrees)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the vanilla almond buttercream
- 2 1/2 cups (yes, really, 4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- About 12 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
- Red, orange, and green food coloring
- To decorate: Piping tips of your choice. I used the Wilton M1, 4B, 21, and 16 for the flowers and the 352 leaf tip.
Tip: To make 3/4 cup sour milk, place 2 1/4 teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice in a glass measuring cup. Add enough whole milk to equal 3/4 cup and stir; let stand for 5 minutes before using.
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9 x 13 baking tin with baking spray.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, sour milk, warm water, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract and whisk to combine completely, about 2 minutes by hand. Pour into baking tin and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
To make frosting, beat butter on medium speed for 1 minute. Add about 5 cups powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter; this takes several minutes. I place a kitchen towel over my mixer to avoid getting powdered sugar all over the countertop.
Once sugar is fully incorporated, add vanilla extract, almond extract, and 1 tablespoon heavy cream and beat to combine; add remaining powdered sugar about 1 cup at a time, beating well between each addition. You’ll likely need another 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream to achieve a medium consistency that’s pipeable but will hold its shape.
Divide frosting into several bowls and tint as desired. I did a variety of deep yellow, light peach, orange, and pinkish red. Remember to reserve a small portion of your frosting to tint green if you want to add leaf accents.
Pipe as desired; I put a thin layer of white buttercream as a base because I just prefer to do that, but you could pipe directly onto the cake itself if you wanted to. I used various techniques, including the same basic swirled rose I use on most of my cupcakes, star-like flowers, and so forth. You can get as creative as you like here. Add your leaf accents using the leaf tip. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days; this didn’t last two full days in my office.
amy bakes in the 'burgh 