Chocolate Indulgence Cake

It's belgian chocolate cake layered with chocolate frosting. The roses on top of the cake were made with chocolate candy. Cant really get the 'perfect' petals as i received a lot of 'help' from my tiny assistant.I gave him some of candy, and asked him to make whatever he fancied. Well, he fancied the candy to be in his mouth more than anything..:-)

Ingredients:
For the Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick/4 oz./113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 tsp. espresso powder
1 3/4 cups pastry flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream

For the Chocolate Frosting:
2 cups (4 sticks/16 oz./450g) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped, melted and cooled to room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Instructions:
For the Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C. Butter and flour 2 (9-inch) cake pans.

2. Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

3. In a small pan stir water, chocolate and espresso powder over low heat until melted. Allow to cool slightly before beating into butter mixture.

4. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt and stir into batter alternately with sour cream. Divide evenly between the 2 pans and bake for 25-35 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

5. Allow to cool 15 minutes in the pans, then turn cakes out onto a plate to cool completely.

For the Chocolate Frosting:

1. Beat butter on high speed, scraping sides frequently, until light and fluffy. Add melted chocolate and mix in.

2. Add vanilla, salt and confectioners' sugar and beat until smooth.

To Assemble:

1. To frost the cake top one layer with frosting and spread. Place second cake layer on top. Frost the top of the cake and finish with the sides. Chill cake to set. Cake is best stored at room temperature once set.

Source: Diana Dessert



By the way, i just want to say that, i bake from my heart, i bake as i would want to eat the cake (or whatever is that i bake) for myself, or my family. Quality doesnt come second in whichever cake that i bake. And truly, i will stick to my standard in whatever situation, even though if it's now credit crunch and people everywhere wanting to cut cost...i'm sorry but to me quality is everything. So i will stick to my way of choosing the best quality ingredients and truly again, i really hope anyone who has the chance to eat my cake, is satisfied. But again,learning process never stops,along the way, i definitely will make mistakes, so in order to be a better baker (it sure sounds weird and out of place to call myself a 'baker', it feels that it's still a long way to go..), i'm happy to receive comments and open to critics.