Colettes Chocolate Cake Recipes

CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans and then flour the insides of the pans, tapping out excess.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl if you're using a hand mixer), sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl; mix for an additional 20 seconds--the batter will be very thin. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the pans and continue baking until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out almost clean, with just a few moist crumbs, about 12 minutes more. Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire racks for 20 minutes, then carefully turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely.
• For the nougat filling: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and evaporated milk, stirring until dissolved. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and add the marshmallow fluff, peanut butter and vanilla extract, stirring until completely smooth. Fold in the peanuts. Let the nougat mixture cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, before using in the cake--you can do this by leaving it at room temperature, or you can place it into the refrigerator to speed up the process. (Makes 2 cups.)
• For the salted-caramel buttercream frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes. Pour in the salted caramel sauce, salt and vanilla, and beat until combined. Reduce the speed to medium-low, and slowly add the powdered sugar, a little at a time, until fully incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, an additional 2 to 3 minutes. (Makes 2 cups.)
• To assemble: Level off the tops of the cakes if they baked up uneven or domed. Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Cover with half of the nougat filling. Top with a second cake layer, and cover with the remaining filling. Place the final cake layer, face-down, on top.
• Frost the cake with the salted-caramel frosting, finishing it as smoothly as possible. Drizzle with caramel if desired.
• Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, until the frosting is set.

COLETTE'S WHITE CAKE

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 2 (8 or 9)-inch round pans. Sift together the flours and baking powder.
• Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixer bowl until fluffy. Add the salt and vanilla and mix well. Add the eggs, scraping the sides of the bowl, and mix until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches alternating with the milk, mixing after each addition and ending with the flour. Mix just until combined. Do not overmix.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the racks and remove the pans. Let the cakes cool completely. Wrap and refrigerate before decorating.

COLETTE'S CHOCOLATE BOURBON COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• Place the sifted flour in a medium bowl and stir in the baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, place the chocolate and the butter. Pour the hot coffee over the chocolate and butter and then add the bourbon. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand until chocolate and butter are melted. Remove the cover and whisk to fully incorporate. Set aside until mixture has cooled.
• Grease and flour 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• When coffee mixture has cooled, add the sugar and whisk until blended. Add the flour mixture, half at a time and stir until just combined. Add the eggs, vanilla, and coconut and whisk until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for about 10 minutes and then cool completely on a rack before icing.
• While cakes are cooling, make ganache: Place the chocolate in a large bowl. Heat the cream in a saucepan just until it starts to boil. Immediately pour the cream over the chocolate, making sure that all of the chocolate is covered. Cover the bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk the chocolate until dark and shiny and then let cool to room temperature. The more you whisk this icing as it cools, the stiffer it will get. If you refrigerate the icing before you put it on the cake, it will get very hard and you will have to microwave it for a few seconds to soften it to a spreadable state.
• Frost cake: Spread ganache over bottom layer of cake. Place the second cake layer on top of the ganache. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining ganache.