For some reason I decided for this month's Cake Slice Baker's selection to the Mini Chocolate Espresso Cakes with Burnt Caramel.
Yes, it sounds great, but is two full pages of recipe with a pound and a half of butter, as well as three eggs and six egg yolks (and all the other stuff). When I choose the recipe to make, I'm very ambitious, then the time comes to make it and I'm like 'what was I thinking?'
Well, after the initial shock of the two-day cake making marathon, I'm glad to report that I've never been more glad to choose a challenging cake from The Cake Book by Rebecca Firth. It's amazing!
The chocolate cake is soft, rich, decadent and totally delicious on its own. And fairly straightforward to make, too.
Then you add the French Mocha Buttercream, drizzle it with the burnt caramel and wow! It becomes an incredible, totally amazing dessert.
All the work that was put into it is totally worth it!
What to watch for when you make this cake:
First of all, as always, read all the way through the recipe and ingredients. Many of the ingredients call for room temperature and it's very important to get them there. They blend with the batter much, much better.
Secondly, patience, patience, patience with the French Mocha Buttercream. There are 32 tablespoons of butter in it and each piece is added individually and blended in before the next is added. Takes some time and attention.
Thirdly, be very watchful when you make the burnt caramel. You can initially stir the sugar and water together, but after it starts simmering/boiling, do NOT stir it. It will crystalize and you'll need to start over. If any crystalized sugar gets into it, run the caramel through a sieve.
After cutting out the little cakes, there was a lot of scrap cake left. I finally moojed (technical term for piecing and mushing it together) it all together, then frosted it with the ton of leftover frosting. It's just as good that way if you'd rather not make little individual cakes.
I will make Mini Chocolate Espresso Cakes with Burnt Caramel again. It's amazing and anyone you know will be impressed.
If you want a satisfying challenge with a delicious result, you'll want to make this cake.
Want another challenging, amazing cake to bake? Try the Chocolate St. Honore Cake. It's a wow cake, too!
Take a minute and check out the other Cake Slice Bakers' selections (links below the recipe.)
Mini Chocolate Espresso Cakes with Burnt Caramel
Absolutely incredible, decadent, bakery-worthy chocolate cake with mocha frosting and drizzled with homemade burnt caramel.
Ingredients
- For the Cake:
- 2 Cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 16 tablespoons butter, (226g) room temperature, cut into 16 pieces
- 1 tablespoon (13g) vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons (4g) finely ground espresso*
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- ⅔ Cup sour cream (149g), room temperature
- 2 Cups all-purpose flour (270g)
- 1 Cup cocoa powder (85g), sifted
- 1 teaspoon (5g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (6g)
- 1 Cup hot espresso or strong coffee (225g)
- For the buttercream:
- 1 ½ Cups granulated sugar (300g)
- ½ Cup water (113g), room temperature
- 6 egg yolks, room temperature
- ⅓ Cup cocoa powder (25g)
- 2 teaspoons (4g) finely-ground espresso
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 32 tablespoons butter (452g), cut into 32 pieces, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- ½ Cup confectioner's sugar (optional)
- For the Burnt Caramel:
- ½ Cup heavy whipping cream (120g), room temperature
- 2 tablespoons butter, (28g), room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- For the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350° (177°C). Spray a 9x13" baking pan and line with parchment paper, and up the ends of the pan. Spray parchment paper also.
- In a stand mixer, add the sugar, butter, vanilla, and espresso*. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes, scraping down a couple of times when needed. Add in the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is well blended before adding each egg. Scrape down bowl as needed. Add in the sour cream and mix for 30 more seconds until light and fluffy. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
- By hand, fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture in two batches, mixing until almost (but not quite) blended.
- Slowly pour in the hot espresso while stirring and stir until completely combined (I put it back on the mixer stand with the paddle attachment and ran it on low for about 30 seconds - no more). Stir the batter with a rubber spatula a couple of time, scraping up everything from the bottom to make sure everything is blended in. (Don't over mix or stir - you don't want a tough cake.)
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, then gently tap the pan on the counter several times to release any trapped air bubbles.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out almost clean (a few crumbs will cling). Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Once cool, move the cake to a cutting board and use a 2 ½" cookie cutter and cut out 10 cake rounds. (Put full cake in the freezer for about 10 minutes for a cleaner cut of the cake rounds, if you'd like.)
- Cut each cake round horizontally through the middle, using a very sharp knife into two equal cake layers.
- For the French Mocha Buttercream:
- Add the sugar and water to a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat and cook for 20 minutes or until it reaches 240°F (116°C). Don't allow it to take on any color during this time, so keep an eye on it and adjust the heat as needed.
- Add the egg yolks to a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, and whisk on high for 4 minutes, or until they have lightened in color. Turn the mixer on medium-low and slowly stream in about half of the hot sugar syrup, streaming down the sides as not to touch the whisk (the syrup is very hot and might kick up onto your hand). Set aside the remaining syrup for later.
- Turn the mixer onto high until the bottom of the bowl feels cool. Once cool, turn the mixer down to medium and add in the cocoa powder, espresso and salt. Then add the butter, one chunk at a time, making sure each chunk is completely blended before adding in the next chunk. Add in the vanilla and mix for 1 minute more. If you're using the confectioner's sugar (I recommend), add it here and mix for another minute.
- Remove from the stand and give the bowl a few good stirs to knock out any air bubbles. Put the buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with your favorite tip. Set aside.
- For the Burnt Caramel: Place the saucepan with the remaining melted sugar syrup over medium heat and wait for the sugar to turn a deep bronze, just before it starts smoking. (Do NOT stir the caramel or it will seize up.) Immediately take off of the heat and whisk in the cream (it will bubble up fiercely at this point, so careful!). Whisk in the butter, vanilla and salt until smooth and set aside to cool completely. If any sugar crystals have formed in the caramel, run it a time or two through a sieve to remove them.
- To assemble: Place one of the cake rounds on a plate and pipe some buttercream over the top (it looks pretty if you 'dot' around the edges). Top with a second cake round, then pipe on more buttercream. Just before serving, drizzle with burnt caramel and serve.
Notes
*I used instant espresso granules.
Absolutely make sure the ingredients that say 'room temperature' are really at room temperature. Put out those ingredients 2 to 3 hours before you attempt to make the cake and frosting.
Original recipe called for Dutch-process cocoa powder, but I used regular unsweetened cocoa.
Original recipe also called for unsalted butter, but I used salted because that's what I have on hand.
I added ½ cup of powdered sugar to the frosting because I like it better that way (otherwise it tastes like pure butter to me).
Careful, careful with the burnt caramel. It's super hot!
What to do with the leftover cake? Mush it together to form a little cake and use the leftover frosting. It's still terrific!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 548Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 22gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 209mgSodium: 571mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 2gSugar: 29gProtein: 7g
Nutrition Values are Approximate
Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The Cake Book: Beautiful Sweet Treats for Every Craving by Rebecca Firth. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!
Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.
The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.
Banana Rum Cake
Chocolate Espresso Cakes with Burnt Caramel
Negroni Quarantini Cake
- No members of the group chose to bake this cake.
Karen's Kitchen Stories
I really love your technical term "moojed!" I should have done that myself, however, I was afraid I'd eat all of the scraps while "moojing!" Your little cakes are adorable.
sblades
Thanks Karen! Yeah, I did a bit of snacking while I was pressing it together (had to make it even, you know...).
Karen's Kitchen Stories
All great tips! I absolutely adored this cake but it was quite an ingredient list! And the pound of butter in the frosting! That was a long process, lol! Your little cakes are so pretty and I'm jealous of your decorating skills!
sblades
Thanks Karen! That was my first real foray into piping. I ordered a tip kit with 90 different tips in it (who knew there were that many in the world) and wanted to experiment. My failures weren't photographed. 🙂
Karen's Kitchen Stories
That's hilarious! By the way, my cakes stayed fresh for days!! This really is an amazing chocolate cake recipe.
Wendy Klik
I was put off by the directions but after seeing the cakes and reading your and Karen's reviews, I can't wait to try it.
sblades
Yeah, it's an investment in time, Wendy, but oh my - it's incredible!