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Last year one of my first posts in this blog showed the 5 chocolate wedding cakes I made for my sweet, beautiful Fairy God-Daughter Tessa and her handsome groom Jared.
Last week she called and asked if I could make a small cake for her first anniversary. It seems that all of the wedding cake was eaten and none saved to have the traditional frozen then thawed anniversary piece. 🙂 Personally I think this is a much better way to go.
I’ve written before that my family uses this cake the most for birthdays. It is Rick’s favorite cake- the one he always requests for his own birthday. I amped up the chocolate flavor a bit by adding some special dark cocoa powder to the original recipe. I also added a few drops of almond extract to the Fudgy chocolate frosting. Sometimes a little complementary flavor serves to highlight the chocolate to an advantage.
Gabi’s Favorite Fudge Cake, makes one 9 inch -two layer cake or two 6 inch layer cakes -can be doubled.
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
2 Cups sifted all purpose flour (plus more for pans)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted for lumps
1/2 Cup (1/4lb) butter, softened to room temperature (plus more for pans)
2-1/4 Cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
3 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
1 Cup sour cream
1 Cup boiling water
Preheat oven to 350F.
Butter and lightly flour two 9inch round cake pans, place a parchment circle that has been cut to fit the bottom
in each round and butter and flour the parchment. Sift flour, soda, salt and cocoa together in small bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment,
or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat butter until soft. Add brown sugar and eggs and beat at high speed
until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla and melted, cooled chocolate. Stir in dry ingredients
alternately with sour cream, beating slowly but well until incorporated after each addition. Add boiling water and
stir until batter is evenly thin. Pour at once into prepared pans and bake at 350F for 35 minutes or until
top springs back when lightly touched. Cool in pans 5 minutes on wire racks and then run a straight spatula
around the sides and remove to rack, paper side down, to cool completely, then frost.
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 Cup (1/4Lb) Butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar
1/2 Cup whole milk or half/half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 drops almond extract Heat chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until barely melted, stir often.
Remove from heat. Combine confectioner’s sugar, milk or half/half, and extracts in a stand mixer
with the whip attachment, blend well.
Add chocolate/butter mixture and beat until it starts to hold some shape. It will be thin at first and firm up as it cools. Makes enough to frost tops and sides of two 9-inch layers or four 6-inch layers.
So, to Tessa and Jared: I wish you many more years of happiness together and all the beauty that a good marriage can add to life! With love from your Fairy Godmother! And…
I made this one (since the recipe makes two 6-inch layer cakes) for my own sweetie!
By the way the screen in the background of the pictures at the top is the screen Rick made for our own wedding- almost 11 years ago- whew time flies when you’re having fun! 🙂 The tulips and grape hyacinth are from our garden.
xoxo
Courtney- Thanks yes I’m not a big fan of cake that’s not fresh. This chocolate cake is better held at room temp for a couple of days but not frozen and thawed. I like being a Godmother- I’d adopt a million that way if I could!
Valli- Oh I hope you try this one- it’s really a satisfying chocolate cake! Thanks for the sweetness!
Deborah- Thanks! Anniversaries are fun aren’t they?
Vali- Oh my *blush* thanks for the amazing compliments! Tessa is pretty lucky in the Auntie department too I must say! I’m excited to have you come “drink in the beauty of life” with an evening in my garden too!
Dhanggit- Thanks you are so sweet!
oh tessa is so lucky!!! this choco cake looks “pro”!! im totally smitten :-)this is so decadent..thanks for sharing the recipe GAbi! it definitely inspired me 🙂
oh yah–and the fairy god father–rick–wow!!!! what a couple–never knew the screen was for the wedding, but am not surprised. i’m excited for the garden this summer:)
i personally tasted both the cake at the wedding and the fresh one for the anniversary(just a tiny bite because fairy god daughters aren’t known to share big pieces of their tiny and treasured anniversary cakes) and both were absolutely heavenly. gabi is my favorite fairy god mother in the whole wide world!!!! cinderella has got nothin’ on tessa in this department:)
What a great anniversary gift! I was actually surprised how well our cake tasted after a year in the freezer, but fresh would have been MUCH better!!
I am always looking for that perfect chocolate cake recipe. Your family is lucky to have you:D
Most bakers advise against freezing a slice of wedding cake. After a year its not the best. So yes this by far a more tempting solution.What a nice God Mother you are.