His first birthday cake was lumberjack themed. His second birthday cake was train themed. His third birthday cake was construction themed. The only natural next theme is Star Wars.
He requested Star Wars and chocolate so I gave him four layers of rich chocolate cake covered in my new favorite chocolate frosting straight from Zoe Bakes (imagine a whipped ganache with more cream and more sugar then imagine resisting the urge to eat the entire batch).
I dyed the frosting black and splatter painted it with edible silver and gold paint. I topped it with some festive sprinkles and a mini storm trooper and voila, a Star Wars themed cake whose flavor was lost on the four-year-olds (it always is, right?!). But luckily for the adults at the party, I’m skilled at cutting very small pieces leaving more than enough for every mom and dad to have a slice.
Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting
adapted from Liv for Cake and Zoe Bakes
Chocolate Cake
200 g (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
300g (1 ½ cups) granulated sugar
70g (¾ cup) unsweetened cocoa, sifted
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup buttermilk
¾ cup strong brewed coffee, warm
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
Chocolate Frosting
2 ½ cups heavy whipping cream + 2 tbsp
85g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
335g (1 ½ cups) granulated sugar
⅓ cup honey
170g (6 oz) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
170g (2 cups) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
¼ tsp kosher salt
Make the chocolate cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease three 6" round cake pans and line with parchment. Place dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir to combine.
In a second bowl, whisk all wet ingredients together. Slowly pour the coffee into ingredients making sure to not cook the eggs. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix on medium speed for 3 mins.
Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cakes cool for 15 minutes then remove from pan to finish cooling.
Make the frosting: In a large saucepan, heat the cream, butter, vanilla, sugar, honey, and salt over medium heat until everything has melted. Turn down the heat and stir in the chocolate. When it is smooth, add the cocoa and stir until there are no lumps. Pour it into a bowl or shallow pan, cover, and let cool in the refrigerator for a few hours.
When you’re ready to use it, bring to room temperature and whip with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes).