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CreativityTranscript
00:00 We'll start with the basics in a devil's food cake with a fudgy chocolate frosting
00:04 Then we'll advance to the next level with the ever-trendy red velvet cake with its cream cheese frosting
00:12 With a greater level of confidence we can take on the rich chocolate mousse cake just so sophisticated
00:19 If that's not enough chocolate for you then save room for my chocolate glazed penny for us
00:24 So dainty and sweet we need to start with the basics first a good devil's food cake
00:30 This is sort of the foundation chocolate cake the chocolate cake where all chocolate cakes came from
00:36 I'll start by sifting a cup and a half of cake and pastry flour
00:40 And half a cup of Dutch processed cocoa powder which lends a rich chocolate taste and
00:51 deep dark chocolate color
00:54 and then three quarters of a teaspoon of baking soda
00:58 quarter teaspoon of salt and
01:01 This is super fine sugar it dissolves quickly into the cake batter and helps make the cake itself moist
01:09 I'll add a cup and a third I sift the sugar in with the dry ingredients
01:15 This is a contemporary style of making an old-fashioned chocolate cake
01:21 By starting with the dry ingredients and then adding half a cup of cool unsalted butter
01:26 I'll blend this in until I get a fine crumb. It almost looks like chocolate breadcrumbs
01:35 Since we're starting with a basic chocolate cake recipe this technique of cutting the butter into the dry ingredients is really the easiest method
01:46 And there we go there are no visible big pieces of butter so now it's time to add the liquid ingredients
01:53 I have half a cup of milk
01:54 And then I've got half a cup of strong hot coffee and the hot coffee is there not so much to make a coffee flavor
02:02 But it actually intensifies the chocolate taste
02:05 I'll add a teaspoon of vanilla to that
02:08 Add this all at once
02:12 And with the mixer running
02:16 Whisk two eggs together to add at the very end
02:19 Mix just until they're blended
02:24 I've got two 8-inch cake pans and what I've done is simply greased the entire pan
02:37 with a piece of parchment in the bottom and then floured the sides
02:40 I'll divide this evenly between the two pans
02:45 It is supposed to be a fluid batter
02:48 And then I give them a good tap
02:54 So any larger size bubbles that might be hiding in the batter rise to the surface and pop
03:00 I've preheated the oven to 350 and the cakes take about 30 minutes
03:05 And here are the cakes and of course the standard test when a skewer comes clean when inserted in the center it is done
03:12 It's important when you're cooling any cake to cool it first in the pan
03:16 but just for about 20 minutes
03:18 Then after that we turn it out of the cake pan and let it cool completely
03:22 And then we'll be back in a minute
03:24 So I'm going to take the cake out of the oven and I'm going to let it cool for about 20 minutes
03:28 And then I'm going to take the cake out of the oven and I'm going to let it cool completely
03:32 And then after that we turn it out of the cake pan and let it cool completely before you put it on the ice
03:37 While these are cooling I can start on the fudgy frosting
03:40 You know you're going to have a good chocolate frosting when you start with 12 ounces of chocolate
03:45 Yes, that's right, three quarters of a pound
03:48 This is semi-sweet baking chocolate, not the kind of chocolate chips you use in chocolate chip cookies
03:53 But this melts smoothly into the fudge frosting
03:57 And I'm going to set this over a water bath, creating your own double boiler
04:02 A double boiler is created by taking a pot, filling it with just an inch of water
04:07 and bringing that up to a gentle simmer
04:10 I like to use a metal bowl and that way it's the gentle heat of the steam that melts the chocolate evenly
04:16 Pouring in a cup and three quarters of whipping cream
04:20 And I like to melt the cream and chocolate together for this frosting
04:23 Because I just want to melt the chocolate and not heat the whole mixture up too much
04:28 This just takes a couple minutes
04:31 While the chocolate's melting I'll get half a cup of sour cream
04:36 Along with a little vanilla
04:39 And always add a little bit of salt
04:44 This ganache, this simple combination of whipping cream and chocolate
04:48 Turns silky and thick, but as it cools it thickens up and that becomes our fudgy frosting
04:55 I'll add a bit of sour cream, that lightens up the sweetness of our 12 ounces of chocolate
05:01 I let the fudgy frosting cool completely to room temperature
05:05 I have the cooled devil's food cakes
05:08 And I already have some frosting cooled and ready to ice the cakes
05:12 Before I ice the cake I like to put a cake board underneath it
05:16 That way once I'm done I can take it wherever I need to take it
05:20 First thing I'll do is put a nice dollop of this fudgy frosting in the center of the cake
05:25 And spread it right to the outside edge
05:29 Now the next layer, and I put it upside down
05:32 That way the most flat sits on top
05:35 To frost the outside of the cake I put a large dollop of frosting on the top
05:39 Spread it right to the outside edge and over it a little bit
05:44 Then I do the sides, because that way the sides will meet up with the frosting on the top
05:49 And create a perfect flat edge all the way around the cake
05:54 And the easiest technique for a beautiful cake is just the swirls and swishes of your offset spatula
06:02 That may be just a basic devil's food cake, but that is a cake you'd be proud to make and to serve
06:09 Now that you've got this classic devil's food cake under your belt
06:12 You're ready for the ever trendy red velvet cake with its cream cheese frosting
06:17 (upbeat music)