I had the great privilege yesterday to have a book club date with my exceptional 12 year old niece, Maddy. One of my Christmas presents to her this year was a copy of the book “Pride and Prejudice”, and along with it was the promise of a date to discuss the book once we had finished it. Due to some unpleasant and unforeseen events, I was not able to finish the book and thus have the date with her until a whopping 6 months later (thank you sweet Maddy for being so patient with your Auntie Charin!). I have read this book several times but reading and then discussing it this time with my wonderfully inquisitive niece on Father’s day weekend got me thinking about the quiet, humble, loving man who is the “dada” to my 2 kidlets.
Pride and Prejudice is widely regarded as one of the best romantic novels of all time, and when reflecting on the book this time (which is about the 4th time I have read it) I was struck by the fact that the quintessential hero, Mr. Darcy, is not perfect in the least, in fact he is quite horrible at the outset. However what I think enthralls so many, myself included, is that when he is confronted with his own faults by someone he loves, he (slowly) opens himself up to a deep change. His deep love and respect for his heroine, Miss Lizzy Bennet, prompts him to reevaluate well, everything. The outcome of this reevaluation is that the pride, the prejudice, the scorn, the disdain, the lofty behavior is replaced with an open, generous, graceful, humble, and kind heart towards others. If you have ever witnessed a change like that in someone close to you, you know, it is a truly wondrous process to behold.
Being married for almost 9 years has definitely revealed something to me… SURPRISE neither one of us are perfect by any means, in fact, we were both horrible at the outset and if we’re being honest, while the quantity of horrible outbursts have decreased, we are still imperfect and prone to hurting one another at any given moment. What I have realized through the years is this, when it comes to having humble listening ears, a considerately open mind, and a willingness to change everything in order to love me better, to love our family better, my husband takes the cake (yup... a thoroughly cheesy pun just for my pun loving man :D ). I am constantly inspired by his truly wonderful character and am thrilled every day to partner in this journey of parenthood with him.
In honor of this guy I made him his favorite cake, Mint Mocha, and I had a little fun with it because I was in the mood for a challenge. The recipes for this cake are a bit more advanced but once complete the cake is absolutely heavenly and I highly encourage you to give it a go if you’re in the mood for a challenge too. Happy Father's Day, I love you David!
Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon Black Cocoa**
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup black coffee
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 2 4" and 2 6" round baking pans (if you want to make this a non-tiered version then use 2 8" round pans, fill one layer of cake, and skip the tiering process in the assembly section below) . Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa(s), baking soda, baking powder. Mix on low until dry ingredients are thoroughly combined. Mix together the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla in a separate bowl then slowly incorporate them in to the dry ingredients. Beat on medium speed for about two minutes; the batter will be thin. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans (Each pan should be about 1/2 full of batter).
Bake in preheated oven for about 35 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
*Disclaimer- I do not own this recipe, it is from my collection of tried and true recipes, this recipe is coming to you from My Baking Addiction who adapted it from Hershey's Black Magic Cake.
**I have found this product at my local Sur la Table or I have bought it online via King Arthur Flour's website.
Espresso Ganache
Ingredients:
6 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp espresso powder
2 tbsp butter
Directions:
Place chocolate in a medium-size heatproof bowl. Combine the cream and espresso in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring just to a simmer; pour mixture over chocolate. Let stand, without stirring, until chocolate begins to melt.
With a whisk, and starting at the center of the bowl, whisk in a small circular motion clockwise increasing the size of your circle until the ganache is 75% incorporated then add the butter and start whisking counter-clockwise just until the ganache is silky and fully mixed together, do not over mix or you'll be sorry :)
Set the ganache aside to cool while making your buttercream, whisk every so often to ensure even texture.
Mint Buttercream
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 ½ cups whole milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 sticks unsalted butter (cool but soft)
3 tbsp and 1 tsp creme de menthe (or green mint) syrup*
Directions:
In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the sugar and flour together. Add the milk and cream and cook over medium heat, whisking frequently until mixture comes to a boil and has thickened (about 5-7 minutes).
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until cool. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter, mix until thoroughly incorporated then add the syrup. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy.
Disclaimer- I do not own this recipe this recipe is adapted from the buttercream used for Grasshopper Bars in Baked's cookbook, Baked Explorations, one of my favorite cookbooks EVER.
*This product is a bit hard to come by but is so worth the extra trouble to find as it gives a very subtle flavor that is not nearly as overwhelming as other mint syrup products. I personally prefer Monin syrups and would recommend their Green Mint syrup for this recipe.
Assembly:
If you are unfamiliar with leveling, cutting, or frosting cakes I would suggest checking out this tutorial before this next step.
Place about 3/4 cup buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a plain round piping tip roughly 1/4-5/16" in diameter (I used an 803 round ateco tip). Level your cake layers. Place one 6" cake layer on to a cake plate or a 6" disposable cake round and place one 4" cake layer on to a disposable cake round or plate. Pipe an even border of buttercream along the outer edge of the cake layers, ensuring there are no holes in the border or the filling will spill through them. Place each cake layer in the fridge to let the buttercream set, this should take about 10-15 minutes. Once the buttercream is set (hard to the touch) then pour the ganache in to each rimmed cake layer. Set back in the fridge to let the ganache set, this should take about 20-30 minutes, the ganache should be soft but not stick to the touch. Place the remaining ganache in to a piping bag fitted with the tip of your choice (I used an 8mm french tip). Take each filled layer out of the fridge and place the unfilled cake layer on top of its twin. Frost each cake with remaining buttercream. With an offset spatula very gently lift and set the 4" cake on top and in the center of the 6" cake. Pipe the ganache around the bottom border of each tier. To serve, first cut the top 4" tier, then proceed to the 6". Enjoy!