Katelyn’s Chocolate Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Katelyn’s Chocolate Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

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This is my favourite chocolate cake recipe straight from my new cookbook ‘Chocolate’. The sponge is a one-bowl wonder that’s rich and moist. It’s sandwiched together with a chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream of dreams!

 SPONSORED

If you’re still reading this after looking at that picture and haven’t already scrolled down to the recipe, then well done, you! This is my most requested chocolate cake. It’s undergone a few changes since the first time I made it with a Milo twist a few years ago. And it got a bit grown-up too with a slathering of the smoothest chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream of your life. 

My new cookbook ‘Chocolate’

This recipe is straight from my brand new cookbook, Chocolate which has been in the top 6 bestselling cookbooks on Loot.co.za since it launched just 3 weeks ago!  Yay!  The cookbook was art directed and styled by me and photographed by my insanely talented friend, Hein van Tonder. If you haven’t already checked out his blog, Heinstirred, then you’re missing out! But back to this incredible cake! 

Katelyn’s Chocolate Cake

This chocolate cake is one of my favourites mainly because it is so easy. We all love a one-bowl wonder and this is one of mine. But obviously, I have one or two secrets to making it really special.

1) Use sugar with flavour! I used my favourite Natura Sugars Soft Brown Sugar which has a lovely fudgy flavour because it’s unrefined. The sugar is also lovely and moist so really stops the cake being dry. 

2) Add some espresso. Did you know coffee actually enhances the flavour of chocolate and makes chocolate recipes taste more chocolatey? Jip, it’s a thing! 

The Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I went for convenience in the sponge because I’d rather spend time on the frosting. Making the Swiss Meringue buttercream really takes this cake to another level. Again, I used a sugar loaded with flavour to balance the sweetness – the Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar has a subtle caramel flavour that works so well and it is super fine so dissolves easily leaving a velvety smooth buttercream! 

Katelyn's Chocolate Cake
Serves 10
My favourite super-moist chocolate cake, covered in my favourite chocolate buttercream. I hope it becomes your favourite, too!
Print
Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 30 min
Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 30 min
0 calories
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Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
0g
Servings
10
Amount Per Serving
Calories 0
Calories from Fat 0
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 0g
0%
Saturated Fat 0g
0%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
Monounsaturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 0mg
0%
Total Carbohydrates 0g
0%
Dietary Fiber 0g
0%
Sugars 0g
Protein 0g
Vitamin A
0%
Vitamin C
0%
Calcium
0%
Iron
0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Ingredients
  1. 400g (500ml) Natura Sugars Soft Brown Sugar
  2. 270g (450ml) cake flour
  3. 80g (200ml) cocoa powder
  4. 15ml (1 tbsp) baking powder
  5. 15ml (1 tbsp) bicarbonate of soda
  6. 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  7. 250ml (1 cup) buttermilk or amasi
  8. 15ml (1 tbsp) vanilla extract or essence
  9. 250ml (1 cup) hot espresso
  10. 70g (70ml) smooth peanut butter
  11. 125g (125ml) salted butter or margarine, melted
  12. CHOCOLATE SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
  13. Egg whites from 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  14. 225g (280ml) Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar
  15. 125g quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa), finely chopped (you can double this amount if you want it seriously chocolatey!)
  16. 10ml (2 tsp) vegetable or canola oil
  17. 500g (500ml) unsalted butter, cubed and softened at room temperature (see note)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C for fan-forced). Prepare 3 springform cake tins (22 cm each).
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Whisk the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla, and add to the dry ingredients. Combine the coffee, peanut butter and butter, and add to the mixture. Mix well. Divide between the three cake tins and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting and allowing to cool completely. Level off the tops of the cake with a sharp knife.
  3. To make the buttercream, fill the bottom of a saucepan with water and bring it to a gentle simmer. Place the egg whites and sugar in a bowl that fits over the saucepan and stir gently with a whisk (don’t whisk to aerate the mixture). Keep stirring until the mixture reaches 60°C on a sugar thermometer or until the egg whites are hot to the touch. Transfer the hot mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whip the mixture on high until light and fluffy. Continue whipping for a good 10 minutes or until the meringue is cool to the touch. In the meantime, melt the chocolate and oil together until smooth and set aside to cool.
  4. Slowly add the butter, one block at a time, to the buttercream until it is thick, glossy and velvety. Check the temperature of the melted chocolate and oil – it should be cool to the touch – then whip it into the buttercream. Store the buttercream at room temperature until ready to use. Assemble the cake by layering the buttercream and sponge layers alternately, then frost the outside of the cake, scraping any excess off with a palette knife, to reveal the sponge layers. Serve drizzled with melted dark chocolate, if desired.
Notes
  1. TIP: Never make buttercream using salted butter or margarine as the salt content is too high and the buttercream will be inedible.
Adapted from 'Chocolate' published by Human & Rousseau
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Adapted from 'Chocolate' published by Human & Rousseau
The Kate Tin https://thekatetin.com/
NOTE: Natura Sugars are available at selected Checkers, Clicks and Spar stores nationwide or online from Faithful to Nature

My cookbook ‘Chocolate’ is available at all bookstores nationwide (if they don’t have a copy, ask them so they can order one for you), or online at Loot, Exclusive Books and Takealot.

 

Dripping White Chocolate Candle Cakes

Dripping White Chocolate Candle Cakes

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A Christmas showstopper; light eggnog sponge cakes layered with nutmeg buttercream and a white chocolate drip that makes these cakes look just like candles! 

YES, IT’S CAKE!

Two weeks ago I posted these white chocolate candle cakes on my Instagram page and within hours it went viral! Which is not surprising because it was beautiful enough to grace the cover of the December issue of Food & Home Entertaining Magazine. It really is a beauty and I had so much fun making (and shooting) it – and I know you will too! Imagine putting this on the Christmas table as decor.  Then, when it’s time for dessert, whip out the matches, light the candle cakes and watch your guests faces as you slice the candles for pudding! I do love a dessert that doubles as a centrepiece – check out this one or this one

THE FLAVOURS

The sponge cake itself is super light – so take care when folding and sifting so you keep as much air as possible in it! The sponge is infused with cinnamon and other spices which are echoed in the nutmeg Swiss Meringue Buttercream. If you can, try get the whole nutmeg and grate it into the buttercream. The freshly grated nutmeg really makes it. Oh, and how could I forget the rum. There’s lots of rum! It’s Christmas, afterall. To make the ‘wax drip’ I simply melted my own baking white chocolate (did you know I launched my own range of chocolates?!)  and piped it down the cake. Click HERE if you want to buy The Kate Tin White Baking Chocolate.

CAKE TINS

If you’re wondering what cake tins I used, I opted for a 15cm (my favourite size which you can get here) for the large candle and created 4 layers to make it nice and tall. For the smaller candles, I simply used tins! The larger tin was from some canned fruit I had lying around and the smaller tin was a bog standard tin of tomatoes. Tin cans make really great cake tins – just be sure to grease them thoroughly. So now you’ve saved the environment AND you get to eat cake. Boom! 

Note: this recipe makes the 3 candles above – if you want to make just one candle, half the recipe below. 

Dripping White Chocolate Candle Cake
Serves 8
Dripping white chocolate “candle” cakes with eggnog sponge and nutmeg-rum buttercream icing
Print
0 calories
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Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
0g
Servings
8
Amount Per Serving
Calories 0
Calories from Fat 0
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 0g
0%
Saturated Fat 0g
0%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
Monounsaturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 0mg
0%
Total Carbohydrates 0g
0%
Dietary Fiber 0g
0%
Sugars 0g
Protein 0g
Vitamin A
0%
Vitamin C
0%
Calcium
0%
Iron
0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Ingredients
  1. EGGNOG SPONGE
  2. 12 large eggs
  3. 10 egg yolks
  4. 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  5. 600g white sugar
  6. 600g ground almonds
  7. 165g white bread flour
  8. 18g ground cinnamon
  9. 10 egg whites
  10. 165g salted butter, melted
  11. NUTMEG RUM BUTTERCREAM
  12. 150g egg whites
  13. 225g castor sugar
  14. 500g unsalted butter, cut into blocks, softened
  15. 75ml rum
  16. 2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  17. 500g The Kate Tin White Baking Chocolate, melted, for dripping
  18. 3 x white birthday candles, wax trimmed off to reveal the wick, to decorate
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Grease and line 4 round cake tins (with a 15cm diameter and 5cm depth each), 1 x 900g tin can (with a diameter of 10cm) and 1 x 450g tin can (with a diameter of 7cm) with baking paper. Set aside until needed.
  2. Place the whole eggs, egg yolks, vanilla essence and ½ of the white sugar in a glass/metal bowl.
  3. Place the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water (do not allow the base of the bowl to touch the water). Stir constantly until the mixture reaches 48˚C on a sugar thermometer. Remove from heat and transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
  4. Beat on high speed until the mixture thickens and reaches ribbon stage, about 1 minute. Set aside until needed.
  5. In a separate bowl, combine the ground almonds, white bread flour and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
  6. Place the 10 egg whites in the bowl of a hand-held/stand mixer. The bowl must be scrupulously clean and dry or the whites won’t reach full volume.
  7. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining ½ of the white sugar, beating continuously until incorporated well. Set aside.
  8. Fold the almond mixture (from step 3) into the whipped whole-egg mixture (from step 2). Stir in the melted butter. Fold in the whipped egg whites.
  9. Divide the batter among the prepared cake tins and tin cans, filling each cake tin and tin can ¾ of the way up to allow for rising during baking. Bake in the preheated oven until a skewer inserted into the centres of each of the cakes comes out clean, about 20 – 25 minutes.
  10. Remove from oven and set aside to cool in the tins, about 5 minutes, before turning the cakes out on wire cooling racks to cool completely.
  11. For the buttercream, place the 150g egg whites and castor sugar in a glass bowl. Place the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water (do not allow the base of the bowl to touch the water). Using a whisk, gently stir the mixture until it reaches 60˚C on a sugar thermometer or until the mixture is hot to the touch. Be mindful not to aerate the mixture when stirring.
  12. Remove from heat and transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 10 – 15 minutes. While beating, add the unsalted butter one cube at a time, beating to incorporate each addition before adding the next. Add the rum and freshly grated nutmeg. Beat until incorporated well.
  13. To assemble the cakes, start with the 4 largest sponges. Use a serrated bread knife to cut a very thin slice off the top of each cake to create a flat surface. Stack the cakes on top of one another, spreading a thick layer of the buttercream between each sponge. Use a spatula or palette knife to spread some of the buttercream over the outside of the cake. Set aside.
  14. For the 2 smaller cakes, cut the sponges into 3 equal parts and cover with buttercream as mentioned in the previous step.
  15. Place the melted chocolate (make sure it's not hot - room temperature is good) in a small piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Slowly pipe the chocolate down the sides of the cakes, creating a drip.
  16. Wait 5 minutes for the chocolate to set before piping a second layer of drip onto each cake – to speed up this process, place the cakes in the freezer for a couple of minutes between piping a new layer of chocolate. The aim is to build up the drips until you’ve created a layered effect.
  17. Carefully place each cake on a candlestick large enough to support its weight. Set aside.
  18. Using a sharp knife, trim the wax off the birthday candles to reveal the wicks, leaving about 1cm of wax intact at the bottom of each candle.
  19. Place 1 candle on top of each cake, pressing down until the 1cm of candlewax is pushed into the sponge. Light the wicks when ready to serve.
Notes
  1. I used recycled jam tins for the smaller-sized cake moulds.
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Adapted from Created for Food & Home Entertaining Magazine
The Kate Tin https://thekatetin.com/