My blog is officially one year old, and I can't believe how fast it's gone by.
I'm so thankful to all of you, my supportive followers! It has been a year of failures and victories, but I have learned so much along the way.
One of my biggest challenges this year was blogging. I love trying out new recipes, and I find myself baking up a storm before even publishing my last recipe, but always end up not writing as much as I would like to! So, one of my goals for this year is to blog more, share a little more about myself, and bring you a little deeper into my kitchen.
Another goal is definitely to cook more. I began this blog intending to recreate classic Portuguese dishes, but end up trying out many other recipes other than Portuguese. I went through a period where I felt like I had let myself down for not sticking to my original inspiration for my blog. Still, I'm happy the way it turned out because I ended up trying out recipes otherwise would never have if I stuck with my initial plan.
I have also been practicing baking and decorating cakes lately. Instagram is filled with cake, making videos that I find myself watching on repeat. They make it look so simple, but in reality, it takes a lot of practice to get at that level, so that's why this year perfecting and delivering easy but creative cakes, like this Halloween one, is another one of my goals.
This Halloween, I chose to bake my favorite chocolate cake, which is frosted with a delicious cream cheese frosting and marshmallows to look like cobwebs. The cake is filled with a raspberry persevere filling, that can easily be substituted for your preferred berry jam I love this combo of flavors, the preserve gives it the right amount of acid to balance out the sweetness of the cake and frosting. Also, the preserves provide a good "bloody" effect that goes well with the Halloween theme!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
½ cup + 2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup hot coffee
Cream Cheese Frosting
16 oz. of cream cheese, room temperature
2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
4 ½ cups of confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of heavy cream
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
black and orange food coloring/gel
1 bag marshmallows
Raspberry Filling
1 cup of raspberry preserves
¼ cup of fresh or frozen raspberries
Recipe
Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 350º. Grease two 8-inch cake pans and dust with cocoa powder, set aside.
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat together the oil and both sugars on medium speed for 2 minutes.Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat again.
With the mixer on low, carefully add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Stop the mixer, and scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl, making sure there aren’t any unmixed pieces.
With the mixer on low, stream in the hot water. Mix on medium-low until combined.
Evenly divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Let them cool on a wire rack before removing the cakes from their pans.
Once they are cool enough to handle, carefully remove them from the pans and set them on a wire rack while you make the frosting.
Raspberry Filling
Add the raspberry preserves in a small saucepan with the frozen or fresh fruit. Bring it to a boil, or until the fruit has softened, mash the fruit and stir the mixture. Pour it into a separate bowl and allow it to cool completely.
* Substitute raspberry for your preferred berry
Frosting
In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Add the confectioners’ sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.
Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes until completely combined and creamy.
*Add more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin, more milk if frosting is too thick, or an extra pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet.
Assemble
Take 1 cup of frosting and divided into two small bowls, add about 2-3 drops of orange food coloring to one bowl. In another bowl, add a tablespoon of cocoa powder, and 5-7 drops the black food coloring or gel and mix it.
Place one cake layer on your cake stand or serving plate. Evenly pipe the edge of the cake with non-colored cream cheese frosting, add the raspberry preserves to the center. Top with 2nd layer and repeat the step. Top with the third layer, spread remaining non-colored cream cheese frosting on top and around the cake using a bench scraper or offset spatula.
Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Take your cake out of the refrigerator and apply the colored frosting around the cake using a small offset spatula.
Melt the marshmallows in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring after every interval until the marshmallows are melted and smooth. Allow to cool and then use your hands to stretch/pull the melted marshmallow around the cake to create a spider web.