Devil’s Food Cake with Espresso Fudge Frosting (x Food Network Canada)

This month has been a bit crazy. I started a new job (yay adulting!), I organized my closet (which is a huge accomplishment, actually), took terrible photos of a cake, and then kept my mind off that cake by making this cake! I’m extra excited about this cake because it is a small little collaboration between Food Network Canada and yours truly. I collaborated with them a while back during the winter holidays and made this winter wonderland cake. Apparently they didn’t hate it so they reached out earlier this month and asked if I would like to create another cake for them.

So whenever I receive an email from Food Network, my mind is going “omgomgomgomogmogomg.” When I opened the email to scroll to the details I saw that they wanted the cake to be somehow tied into the Calgary Stampede. Okay. So if you don’t know me, you wouldn’t know that I’m this little sheltered I-need-to-be-in-a-big-city-probably-NYC kinda girl. Not saying Calgary isn’ a big city; I would actually love to visit Calgary someday and lurk around in Phil & Sebastian. But I’ve never been to Calgary, let alone the Stampede. Soooooooo what I’m trying to say is that…I don’t know what I’m doing. “Oh hi Food Network, I don’t know what I’m doing.” Of course I didn’t say that…but I guess it’s out there now.

One thing I did know was that I didn’t want the cake to be covered in cowboy hats and whatever one might find at the Stampede. I still wanted to show off my style (whatever that is). After a tad bit of brainstorming and a whole lot of going at it blindly, I came up with this! A chocolate on chocolate situation that’s both decadent and homey. It is a devil’s food cake with an espresso fudge frosting! I topped the cake off with some horses, sugared rosemary sprigs, and bunting that says ‘yeehaw.’ Does this accurately depict the Stampede? Will Calgarians laugh at me for being so uneducated? 

Chocolate Cowboy Cake with Fudge Frosting

Makes 1 four-layer, 6-inch cake

By Amy

Ingredients

Cake

• 175 g 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 270 g 1-1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

Frosting

• 225 g 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup 50 g powdered sugar
• 4 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 100 g dark chocolate, 70%, melted and cooled
• 2 tsp espresso powder, optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven at 350°F. Grease 4, 6-inch cake pans.
• In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.
• In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time and mix until well incorporated.
• Add in the dry ingredients and start mixing on slow. Gradually add the milk and sour cream/Greek yogurt.
• Divide batter evenly into 4 cake pans. I used an ice cream scoop to make sure each pan had equal amounts of batter. You can also you a scale to do this.
• Bake for 28-30 minutes until the cake springs back when you press the top gently. Let cakes cool before removing them from pan.

You will find the recipe for this cake situation over at Food Network:

http://www.foodnetwork.ca/entertaining/blog/chocolate-cowboy-cake-with-fudge-frosting/

Here are some additional photos I took for your viewing pleasure.

Yeehaw…! (I think)