Description
Chocolate cake filled with chocolate ganache and maple American buttercream, then decorated with stripes and pumpkins.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Chocolate Cake
- 1/2 C + 2 TBSP Vegetable Oil
- 2 C Granulated Sugar
- 2 Lg Eggs + 1 Egg Yolk, at room temp
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 1/2 C All Purpose Flour
- 1 C Dark Cocoa Powder
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 1/2 C Buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 C Strong Brewed Coffee
For the Ganache Filling
- 5 oz Dark Chocolate, chopped
- 5 oz Heavy Cream
For the Maple Buttercream
- 2 C Unsalted Butter, at room temp (4 Sticks)
- 1 tsp Beyond Good Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 8 C Powdered Sugar, sifted
- 1/4 C Real Maple Syrup
- 2–4 TBSP Heavy Cream, at room temp
Instructions
For the Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray 3 8″ cake pans with non stick baking spray (one that contains flour is best)
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the oil and sugar for 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat another 2 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- With the mixer on low, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the mixer, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
- With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the hot coffee. Use a rubber spatula to do a final mix. Divide evenly among the cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached.
- Allow cake to cool, then refrigerate until chilled.
For the Chocolate Ganache Filling
- Heat the heavy cream in a medium sized bowl for 1 minute in the microwave.
- Chop the chocolate into fine pieces.
- Add the chocolate to the hot heavy cream. Let it sit for 1 minute.
- Stir until smooth. Let cool to room temp before filling in cake.
For the Maple Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter alone for 10 minutes, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl half way through.
- Add the salt and vanilla, mix to combine.
- Add the powdered sugar in 2 additions (4 C at a time) and mix for 3 minutes after each addition.
- Add the maple syrup, mix to combine.
- Add the heavy cream 1 TBSP at a time until you reach your desired consistency. You want the buttercream soft, but still able to hold its shape.