Bailey's Chocolate Fudge Cake
I’m baaaaack.
I don’t want to make excuses, just know that life is hectic. My job is hectic, and I can’t promise I’ll be here the same time every week, but I will definitely not take long hiatuses like this last one.
Enough of my groveling, let’s get to the important stuff. The cake.
It was Saint Patrick’s Day last week and I wanted to make something green. That’s all. That’s the back story. I’m a woman of simple pleasures and so that’s how we ended up with this beauty.
It’s my amazing Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe, with a Bailey’s infused buttercream filling swirled up with chocolate ganache and all wrapped up in a green Vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream.
It’s a fairly simple cake by my standards flavor wise but it’s good.
For the filling, I chose to use a recipe for an American style buttercream from Wicked Good Kitchen (linked below) and put my own spin on it.
I used warmed Bailey’s Almande in place of the boiling water in the recipe and doubled the vanilla.
Look at how fluffy!
As always, I’m really happy with the way this buttercream turned out. It is probably one of my favorite recipes to use for filling a cake or if I don’t have the time to make a meringue buttercream.
Adding the hot liquid to the confectioner’s sugar guarantees a smooth creamy mouth feel and I can’t say enough nice things about this recipe.
When Gretchen posted that she had come up with an Italian Meringue Buttercream using Aquafaba, I just about died. I had actually never tried to make a meringue buttercream using the Italian method and after this time, I’m a complete convert.
It’s so stable and it tastes divine. I may never go Swiss again. You do really need a candy thermometer to make this and with zero benefits on my part (haha) here is the one I use in my kitchen. This is probably one of my top 3 recipes for buttercream that I’ve ever tried and I see it making repeated appearances in my kitchen going forward.
A bit of a short entry today, but thanks again for staying tuned!
Chocolate Fudge Cake
Yield: 4 4-inch cakes + 6 Cupcakes or 3 6-inch Cakes
Ingredients for the Chocolate Fudge Cake:
170g All Purpose Flour
80g Cake Flour
30g Dutch Cocoa Powder
30g Black Cocoa Powder ( I used King Arthur Brand)
120g Granulated Sugar
75g Light Brown Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Espresso Powder ( I used King Arthur Brand)
1 1/2 Cup Canned Coconut Milk*
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract ( I used Frontier Co-op Organic Vanilla)
226g Vegan Butter (softened)
1 Tbsp Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg Powder*
Notes:
*Almond milk will work in a pinch, but canned coconut is the best option. Have not tried with any other non-dairy milks.
*Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg is my cake savior. When I baked and developed my cake recipes at my previous home, I was determined not to use any expensive/hard to find additions in my recipes. My oven at my new place is just a bit temperamental and I find the Vegan Egg adds just that extra bit of stability to keep the cake together.
TLDR: Feel free to leave it out if you don’t have it on hand.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Brush the inside of four 4 inch cake pans with the nonstick medium of your choice ( I use the bakery pan grease recipe from Gretchen Price’s cookbook).
Measure and weigh all the ingredients and set aside.
Whisk together vinegar and milk and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy and almost doubled in size (about 4 minutes). A stand mixer can also be used for faster results.
While continuing to mix, slowly stream milk and vinegar mix into the creamed butter and sugar. Ensure that the milk is being fully incorporated by the mixer or the batter may curdle.*
Add Vanilla. Mix until uniform.
Sift together all dry ingredients (including Vegan Egg) and in three parts, add them to the wet ingredients making sure to fully incorporate each time.
Once all the dry ingredients are added, beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. If using stand mixer, mix on medium-low speed for no more than one minute. Be mindful not to over mix!
Divide batter equally between the pans ( about 154g/ 4 inch pans) , tapping gently on the counter 2-3 times to release any large air bubbles.
Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Place cakes into the freezer for 30 minutes before beginning to decorate. This is an optional step, but I find really cold cakes are nicer and easier to handle and this cake is a bit on the delicate side.
When stacking and filling the cake, layer Bailey’s buttercream with a drizzle of the chocoolate ganache.
Crumb coat the cake with the Bailey’s buttercream and freeze for 20 minutes.
Remove cake from freezer and frost generously with the remaining Bailey’s buttercream. Return to freezer for 20 minutes.
Cover and decorate the cake with Vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream and finish with a Chocolate Ganache drip..
*If the mixture curdles, scoop out a 1/4 cup from the bowl and warm it in the microwave for 15 seconds. Slowly stream the melted butter into the curdled batter while mixing, and it should come back together.
Chocolate Ganache Filling/Drip
Yield: About 3/4 Cup Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients for the Chocolate Ganache:
100g Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cups Coconut Cream (heated to just boiling).
Instructions
Heat Coconut Cream in a microwave safe dish until just simmering (about 45 seconds).
Place chocolate chips in a large bowl. Cover with the hot coconut cream and let sit for 5 minutes.
Whisk the chocolate and coconut cream until uniform and smooth. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then pour into a squeeze bottle for easy use and storage.
Allow to cool completely before use.
Recipes I Used/Modified:
