Cake Experiment Week 2

Week 2 of the Great Cake Adventure was very successful.   Again, this is from the Martha Stewart website and very straightforward.

Devil's Food Cake with Fluffy White Frosting

Ingredients:

3 sticks Unsalted Butter, room temperature, plus more for pans

1 Cup Unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pans

1 Cup Boiling water

1 Cup Sour cream

3 Cups All-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

3/4 tsp Fine Salt

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Baking soda

3 3/4 Cups Sugar, divided

4 large Eggs, plus 5 large egg whites, room temperature, divided

5 tsp pure Vanilla extract, divided

1 Tbs Corn syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans and line with parchment; butter parchment and dust pans with cocoa. (If you don't have parchment paper, cooking spray and flour work just as great). 

Whisk boiling water into cocoa until smooth; whisk in sour cream. Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat butter and 2 1/4 cups sugar on medium-high until fluffy and pale yellow. Beat in whole eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Fold in 4 teaspoons vanilla.

Divide batter among pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. My oven, for some reasons, goes volcanic and so the cakes only took 35 minutes to bake.  Do not let the cakes over bake because they go dry super fast.  Transfer pans to wire racks and let cool completely. Remove cakes from pans and discard parchment. Trim cakes if desired.

In a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water, whisk together remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar, egg whites, and corn syrup until sugar is dissolved. Take your pointer finger and thumb and dip it in the egg white mixture and rub your fingers together. If it still feels grainy, it needs to steam a little longer.  Remove from heat; using mixer, beat on high until stiff, fluffy peaks form, about 5 minutes. Fold in remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla. Transfer a cake layer to a serving plate and top with 1 cup frosting. Stack second cake on top and cover top and sides with remaining frosting.

Rach's Review

I have to admit; I was highly skeptical.  The cake part sounded delicious but the icing sounded super close to meringue.  BUT, having the karo syrup mixed into the egg white mixture, the icing turns into a marshmallow-ey taste.  And, the icing combined with the super rich chocolate cake is DELICIOUS.  Definetely a thumbs up.  The cake is very dense, almost a brownie, and the creamy-ness of the marshmallow icing is a perfect combination of rich chocolate and sticky sweetness.