This month the Avid Bakers Challenge Group made Favorite Buttermilk Cake from Baking for All Occasions. If you don’t have access to this fantastic book, the recipe can be found here. I haven’t managed to post an Avid Bakers Challenge recipe since January, though I have made a couple of selections since then, and I thought this was a terrific one to jump back in with. This is an excellent cake to have in your repertoire: simple, but very tasty and lends well to various accompaniments. I have in general been very impressed with the recipes from Baking for All Occasions. It reminds me a lot of Dorie's book, in the sense that there are a very diverse selection of recipes, that you can tell have been well-tested and have detailed instructions.
Since there was not a frosting or garnish assigned with this cake, I decided to go with chocolate frosting. I had planned to make one from Baking for All Occasions, but it had unsweetened chocolate in it and somehow I didn’t have any in my kitchen. Josh offered to go to the store. I decided that given the number of cookbooks and baking supplies I have, a trip to the store wasn’t necessary and I made a recipe from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, which proved to be a wonderful combination. We rated this cake an 8.5 for Deliciousness and I gave it a 3 for Effort, for an EDR of 2.83. I can’t wait to see the other combinations the ABC group came up with for this cake!
Chocolate Buttercream, from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook (I made a half recipe for an 8x8 cake)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft
1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon milk
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled to lukewarm (see note)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
In a medium-size bowl, beat the butter until cream, about 3 minutes. Add the milk carefully and beat until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat well. Add the vanilla extract and beat for 3 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat until creamy and of desired consistency.
Note: To melt chocolate, place in a double boiler over simmering water on low heat for approximately 5-10 minutes. Stir occasionally until completely smooth and no pieces of chocolate remain. Remove from heat and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
5 comments:
This looks really good! Buttermilk in baked goods is so good, and I've made that delicious Magnolia chocolate buttercream - fabulous!
Ooooh chocolate buttercream. That sounds like a great combo. I love the crumb of your cake, btw. I'll have to make this cake again and put some proper frosting on it. I ran out of time so I used some macerated strawberries only.
Btw, don't forget to add a link to your ABC post here: http://avidbakerschallenge.blogspot.com/2011/06/abc-bakers-link-for-june-2011.html
The crumb on that cake looks so perfect! Yellow cake with chocolate frosting always reminds me of childhood birthday cakes :)
This cake sounds delicious. I'm not a big white/yellow cake person, but chocolate frosting makes everything yummy. How sweet of Josh to offer to go to the store for you! That's a good husband! Congratulations on tying the knot. Glad to see you have passed the no dessert zone and are back in full baking swing. ;)
This looks like the perfect cake recipe for me to try with my brand new Kitchenaid! Buttermilk recipes always seem to turn out good.
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