Birthday Cake

Are there finer words than those?

Hello, lovely people of the Substack universe!

Today’s recipe is for a birthday cake. It’s my birthday cake to be exact, which is my excuse for not getting this newsletter out to you sooner. My apologies!

I love cake in all its forms and flavors, in layers and or as cupcakes. It’s good for dessert or high tea, and in my family, where we began the birthday celebration the night before, that meant cold birthday cake for breakfast the next morning.

If you ask me to make your birthday cake, I’ll pull out all the stops, make it 7 layers each with a different flavor buttercream, with your name engraved individually on each chocolate chip that is used for decoration. I mean, you get the idea. When it’s my own cake, I want it simple, which is why I chose a one-bowl method for devil’s food cake, whipped cream for the filling, and a ganache frosting, because nothing is easier than ganache. Sounds fancy: Is simple.

I hope you try it. Make amendments to suit your taste and thank you to everyone who sent happy birthday wishes. I read each one!

My Birthday Cake

What You’ll Need

For the layers:

• 6 ounces all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking SODA

• ½ to 1 teaspoon salt (use the smaller measure if using table salt; I used Diamond kosher)

• 8 ounces (2 sticks) of butter

• 8 ounces of brewed coffee

• ½ cup (2 ounces) of Dutch-process cocoa powder (such as Droste or Guittard Rouge Cocoa)

• 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (see note below)

• 1 1/2 cups, packed (10.5 ounces) light brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 4 large eggs

• 2 egg YOLKS

For the filling:

• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream

• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

• 2 teaspoons vanilla (or the liqueur of your choice)

• 2 cups of raspberries

• 1/2 cup raspberry or apricot jam

For the ganache:

• 3/4 cup heavy cream

• 6 ounces dark chocolate (I use 72% solids), chopped

What You’ll Do

Make the layers:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Butter and flour 2 9” cake pans, and line the bottom of each with a round of buttered parchment paper.

3. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

4. Whisk together the whole eggs and egg yolks.

5. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and coffee together

6. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate until its melted. Add the cocoa powder, brown sugar and vanilla, and whisk until blended.

7. Although your mixture should be cool enough to add eggs to without scrambling them, let’s be safe: Add about a tablespoon of egg mixture at a time and whisk until blended. Do this for about 5 tablespoons-worth, then the mixture should be cool enough to add the rest of the eggs without incident.

8. Fold in the flour mixture until blended (no streaks should remain) and divide the batter between two pans.

9. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

10. Let cool on a rack. After 15 minutes, turn the cakes out of the pans to cool completely.

Make the filling:

1. Whisk the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla or liqueur and sugar and whisk until strong peaks form. The cream needs to be slightly stiffer than you normally might make.

2. Fold in the raspberries. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the ganache:

1. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until it just begins to simmer—small bubbles should appear at the edge. Do not let the cream boil. If you accidentally do, say you get distracted by Twitter or your cat’s latest trick, let the cream cool slightly before using.

2. Add the chopped chocolate to the mixture, make sure it’s submerged and let it sit for 5 minutes.

3. Whisk the mixture until smooth and glossy. Resist the urge to sit alone, alternately spooning the ganache and the cream-filling into your mouth. Although, if you’re making your own birthday cake, you can do whatever you damn well please.

4. Set aside for a few minutes to thicken slightly. If you leave it too long and it gets too thick, briefly microwave it or heat it over a double boiler.

Assemble the cake:

1. Place one cake top down. Spread the jam over the top of the cake. Top with the whipped cream mixture and spread nearly to the edge of the cake. Place the second layer on top, pressing down lightly on the filling to let quietly ooze just to the edge. Ice the top with the ganache. Then top with sprinkles, because it’s your birthday. Alternately, top with fresh raspberries, or M and Ms or chocolate curls or chocolate chips…or ALL of them. No judgements.

2. Refrigerate until ready to serve. This cake will happily wait 24 hours until being served.

Happy Birthday to all who celebrate!

If you can, please donate to the Go Fund Me for the Bakehouse in Ukraine, which is remaining open during the war to keep Ukrainians fed and keep the workers paid. Below is a photo of the bakery: