| Level: | Advanced |
| Total: | 2 hr 20 min |
| Prep: | 40 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr |
| Cook: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 18 to 20 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups good cocoa powder
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons brewed coffee
- 1 recipe Orange Buttercream, recipe follows
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 12 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars on high speed until light, approximately 5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Combine the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. On low speed, add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture alternately in thirds, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix the batter only until blended.
- Pour the batter into the prepared sheet pan, smooth the top with a spatula, and bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature before frosting.
- Orange Buttercream:
- 2 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup water
- 6 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 1/4 pounds (5 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons Triple Sec or other orange liqueur
- 1 tablespoon orange food coloring
- Combine the sugar with 2/3 cup water in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and, without stirring, bring to a boil. Cover the saucepan and allow the mixture to boil until the sugar dissolves. Uncover and continue boiling until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Pour the syrup into a heat-proof measuring cup.
- Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on high speed until the eggs form stiff peaks. With the mixer on high speed, slowly pour the syrup into the egg whites. Continue beating on high speed until the mixture is absolutely at room temperature, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- With the mixer on medium speed, add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, and then add the vanilla and liqueur. (If the mixture becomes runny, the meringue was too warm and the butter melted. Chill slightly and beat again.) Add the food coloring and combine.
- Yield: 6 cups
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 20 servings |
| Calories | 272 |
| Total Fat | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 38 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 22 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Cholesterol | 61 mg |
| Sodium | 217 mg |
Reviews
Excellent!!
Fabulous cake! Followed the instructions to the letter the first time, then made a couple of changes for subsequent cakes. I cut the baking soda to 1 tsp. and added 1.25 tsp. (one and one-fourth teaspoons) baking powder. This took away some of the strong baking soda taste in the finished cake. I also frosted it with Ina’s Chocolate Buttercream frosting, which is one of the best I’ve ever tasted!
I had cupcakes made from another recipe and used the icing recipe only. While I used coconut palm sugar instead and added cocoa powder, it turned out fairly well. It did, however, make my stand up mixer a complete mess. When I poured the sugar syrup into the egg whites, the air sucked the syrup to the top of the beaters and it all had to be cleaned up. All in all it turned out fairly well.
Can this frosting be used on cut-out cookies?
I have made cakes for 40 years and worked with egg white frostings for about 20 years. Here are some good ideas to keep in mind when making this cake or making this frosting (or even meringues). First, never refrigerate a cake un-iced or unfrosted. I never refrigerate cakes not unless the cake HAS TO BE because the refrigerator will dry a cake out. If you must store a cake overnight, let it cool, wrap in saran wrap and freeze it. That way, your cake will be almost like you pulled it out of the oven when you get ready to frost it. Wrap it well (once cooled), whether left on the counter, or before freezing. Then (very important), thaw COMPLETELY before icing. Now, whipping egg whites, as many cook will attest, can be difficult. Here are the things you need to know: DO let eggs come to room temp (same when you’re making cakes); they whip better. DO NOT USE PLASTIC BOWLS when making this frosting, meringues, or any recipe involving whipping egg whites. Plastic attracts & holds oil (no matter how hard you try to clean it), and oil breaks down egg whites and causes the egg whites to be runny. A copper bowl is best when whipping egg whites, but stainless or glass bowls are fine. Just make sure they are grease-free.Now, you may say, but butter has oil in it, and this particular icing has butter, so what gives? The sugar syrup, after its added into the egg whites, stabilizes the egg whites so that the butter does not deflate the frosting When making egg whites and frostings, it is almost imperative to have a stand mixer—seriously. I would decrease the coffee in this recipe (a little coffee does enhance chocolate, and a little goes a long way) since some reviewers complained that they tasted the coffee, and I do not believe I will add the orange flavoring, but that is my personal preference.I hope this helps!
I followed the ingredients, measurements and instructions to a “tee”. Everything came out perfectly except for the strong coffee flavor. The strong flavor came about when I ate the slightly orange flavor of the buttercream icing with the cake. If I ate the cake separately the cake just tasted like chocolate with no overtones of strong coffee. I think the strong coffee flavor I was tasting was caused by a chemical reaction of blending the icing and cake and the taste buds in my mouth. Other reviewers had a similar complaint. Maybe the strong coffee flavors are evidenced by certain people. I do not know. If it was not for the strong coffee flavor this would be a five star recipe. If I make this cake again I am going to leave out the trip sec which is not all the effective in flavoring and the coffee.
I made this cake twice. The first time i made it was last year. It was a disaster, only the buttercream but not the cake. the first time i made the chocolate cake was good but i added less cocoa about 3/4 cup it tasted like nothing!. I made the cake again and used the same amount of cocoa as said in the recipe 1 1/2 cup. The cake took 40 mins took, i used a 30x33cm tray.The buttercream the first time i made it it was a huge disaster, the next i made it it went well, I used a hand mixer my meringue took 25 mins to whip hard until cooled, after adding the butter you have to keep keep keep whisking the mixture until it thicknes. I used the colouring, you need to add more than 1 tbsp becuase it goes lighter in colour. it was creamy though and it does literally met in your mouth! it suited with the chocolate cake which taste very dense, chocolaty and moist. The cake with the buttercream is rich and sweet, but taste delicious. a lot of hard work for this cake! i would rate this cake 5!
Love this recipe! I will be using it under my fondant cakes. It’s moist & the flavor is rich yet not too overwhelming. The coffee enhanced the flavor of the chocolate. I made it with Swiss meringue vanilla buttercream and it’s divine! Thank you Ina!!!
I did the cake only and it was very easy and darkly delicious. I made a chocolate ganache to top it with. This is definitely a keeper and repeat recipe.
This is the first recipe that did not work for me. The cake was really tasty but the frosting was difficult to make and was runny even after refrigeration. Next time I will make a traditional buttercream frosting. Also,I worry about the use of egg whites.