Today is Lucas' birthday. My baby boy is turning three and I know this sounds cliché but he is growing so fast. Faster than I would want him to. He has been a blessing in our lives and life is much better (and busy) because of him. Lucas has a strong personality and he is really sweet.
That boy loves chocolate. At this point I have a feeling he thinks that all birthday cakes have to be made out of chocolate or else they're not birthday cakes. When we were singing happy birthday to him this morning, the first thing he said was "where is the chocolate cake mama?" I smiled and promised him a chocolaty chocolate cake for later.
Lucas is going through a Superman phase. My goodness, everything has to be Superman themed right now. I'm telling you, when toddlers get obsessed with something, it gets really intense like watching a movie a million times. I'm sure some of you can relate to this.
On Sunday, we are throwing a little "Super" party for him. I have a lot of work ahead of me as we are doing, yes, you guessed it, a Superman themed party. Everything is looking good, I'm sharing photos next week!
For now, I'll leave you with this "super" chocolate cake. It's really moist and for serious chocolate lovers only ;)
Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup of buttermilk
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup of hot water
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 and mix on 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 well blended. Scrape around the bowl with a rubber spatula, scrape the bottom and the sides. Slowly, add the hot water into the batter, blend well on medium 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 the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Chocolate buttercream:
7oz dark chocolate (60%)
finely chopped
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
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 continue mixing for a minute more. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder, then turn the speed back to medium and mix until smooth. On low speed, add the melted chocolate and mix until well blended. If the frosting is a little runny but don't worry, just let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes or until it's hard enough to frost the cake.
To assemble:
Carefully, cut the cake in two layers and evenly spread some of the chocolate buttercream. Place the layer back on top. Spread the rest of the buttercream on the cake and decorate with sprinkles.
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