Chocolate-Coffee Cake with Fresh Figs

Wow! What a weekend! A hurricane in New York? I was not expecting that. It came as a guest to say 

happy birthday to my husband. I had planned a Southern meal to celebrate my husband's 30th birthday which was on Saturday. Instead, I ended up preparing for the hurricane. Thankfully, nothing bad happened around here but I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. Despite the hurricane, I decided to go ahead and do what I had planned. My mom made a delicious pulled pork which I wish I had the recipe for to share with you but I was not there when she made it and my mom is not great at giving recipes, no measurements or quantities, I love it.

Of course there was a cake. My husband's all time favorite, chocolate fudge cake with a chocolate-coffee frosting. I love this cake, it's rich, chocolaty, it has a lovely coffee flavor and the frosting is just good. I also used some fresh figs to top the cake, I used figs, because I love them but also because my tree is just producing figs like crazy, it's the best harvest we've ever had. 

For the cake:

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup canola oil

2 large eggs

1 cup of buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon instant coffee

1 cup of hot water

Fresh figs (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment,

combine the sugar, brown sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt at low speed until blended. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Slowly add the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients on low speed until just blended. Scrape around the bowl with a rubber spatula, scrape the bottom and the sides. Mix the coffee powder into the hot water and pour coffee into the batter, blend well on low speed for 20 seconds. The batter will be thin, don't worry, that's the way it should be. pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 25 minutes, then turn it out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. 

Frosting:

7oz Chocolate, semisweet chocolate, 

finely chopped

2 sticks of butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon of instant coffee dissolved in 

2 tablespoons of hot water 

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.  Make sure the bowl is not touching the water, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and the dissolved coffee and continue mixing for a minute more. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then turn the speed back to medium and mix until smooth. On low speed, add the melted chocolate and mix until well blended. The frosting will be a bit runny but don't worry, just let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes or until it's hard enough to pipe the cake. You can also spread immediately on the cooled cake if you don't want to pipe. 

Tip: feel free to double up on the frosting if you like chocolate as much as I do :) 

Assemble:  

Carefully cut cake in three layers and spread some frosting on each layer. Spread the top and the sides with the remaining frosting, if you want to create the ruffles, here is a useful video you can watch. Don't be afraid, just go for it. Place the figs on top.